The Boeing Co, Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $265,022,000 firm-fixed-price, delivery order contract modification (P00001) to contract H92241-19-F-0091 for the procurement of nine MH-47G Chinook aircraft in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This modification raises the contract ceiling to $285,800,000. Fiscal 2020 procurement funds in the amount of $265,022,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The majority of the work will be performed in Ridley Park and is expected to be completed February 2023. This contract is a non-competitive award and is in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302.1. USSOCOM, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity.
Boeing received a $26.9m indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for the production of Block II MH-47G aircraft in July 2018. Boeing was awarded a $194m contract by the UASSOC to deliver MH-47G Block II Chinook helicopters in June 2019. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2021. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) of the US Army has the requirement for 61 MH-47Gs. The MH-47G modernisation programme is aimed at delivering a mix of remanufactured and new MH-47Gs to the USASOC.
The Boeing MH-47G is a special operations variant of the CH-47 Chinook multi-role, heavy-lift helicopter. The MH-47G is used in heavy-lift missions such as the transportation of troops, ammunition, vehicles, equipment, fuel and supplies, as well as civil and humanitarian relief missions. The helicopter can conduct long-range missions at low level, in adverse weather conditions during the day and at night. The helicopter can be fitted with special operations equipment such as a fast rope insertion extraction system (FRIES), a special patrol insertion and extraction system (SPIES), a rope ladder, an electrically powered rescue hoist and a personnel location system (PLS
The helicopter is armed with two M134 7.62mm electrically operated, air-cooled mini guns and two M240 7.62mm belt-fed machine guns mounted on either side of the fuselage at the forward and rear sections. The defensive aids aboard the rotorcraft include a common missile warning system (CMWS), an integrated radio frequency countermeasures suite, a laser warning system and XM216 dark flares. The helicopter is powered by two Honeywell T55-GA-714A engines, which develop a maximum power output of 3,529kW each. The engines are equipped with infrared (IR) exhaust suppressors to reduce the IR visibility of the helicopter.
