Boeing bags $15 billion Contract

In yet another major accomplishment, the Aerospace giant Boeing Co. bagged a contract to replace the ageing rescue chopper fleet of the Air Force.

Riding on ever increasing commercial orders and now with an important defence deal in the bag too, the firm is certainly heading towards the sky.

Boeing, based in Chicago will provide 141 helicopters to replace the Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search-and-rescue helicopters with a version of CH-47 Chinook helicopter at a deal close to $15 billion. The variant HH-47 will be expected to be quite ahead in terms of performance and reliability than the Sikorsky.

The Pave Hawk had helped to retrieve over 700 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan before it reached the end of its service life. It was initially made in 1982.

Talking about the new chopper, it will have a range of 275 nautical miles with speed of over 135 knots. It can even loiter over a site for around five minutes. Belonging to the twin rotor Chinook family it produces heavy lifts and can operate at high altitudes also.

“This aircraft here will get us places we cannot go in the 60, and we can get everybody out in one shot instead of going back multiple times," said one official at Air Combat Command.

The deal will be completed in stages with ten choppers to be delivered by 2011 with the entire fleet being replaced by 2019. The total cost might touch $15 billion with another $20 billion required for operation and maintenance of the machines over a span of 30 years. Boeing was also awarded $712 million for system development and demonstrations.

"The [award] is a vote of confidence by the Air Force in the ability of Boeing to provide them the rotorcraft they need for this very important mission," said Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.

Boeing piped its closest competitors Lockheed Martin, the incumbent Sikorsky and Agusta Westland Inc. The US 101 of the Lockheed Martin was selected last year as the US presidential Chopper. Past record and performance was a major criterion for awarding the contracts. Another factor which worked in Boeing’s favor was that the CH-47 is being used extensively by the Army and other forces.

The production of the helicopters will be at Rotorcraft Systems manufacturing facility in Ridley Park near Philadelphia which already is the hub for MH-47G Special Operations and CH-47F Chinook programs. It is expected to create another 400 engineering jobs initially with the number going up in later stages.