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Mk3 Chinook joins the ranks, finally
The RAF could deploy its new Mk3 Chinooks to the Afghan theatre as early as this summer, it was revealed today.
Secretary of State for Defence, Bob Ainsworth and Under-Secretary of State for Defence Equipment and Support, Quentin Davies were on hand at RAF Odiham in Hampshire to mark the induction of the type into RAF service eight years later and costing the taxpayer an extra £112 million.
‘This has not been our finest hour,' explained Mr Ainsworth but said the introduction of the aircraft was 'really good news'.
‘Two years may sound like a long time, but we have effectively conducted heart surgery on these aircraft to get them to where we are now,' he added.
Two of the eight aircraft refitted by Boeing at Boscombe Down arrived at RAF Odiham shortly before Christmas, the third is due to arrive imminently and all eight should be in service before the end 2010.
Odiham Station commander and Chinook Force Commander, Grp Capt Steve Shell said the type would make a significant contribution to operations, but would be treated like any other Chinook in Joint Helicopter Command and rotated through theatre every few months. "Since we began operations in Afghanistan, aircraft are no longer assigned to squadrons, the aircraft are pooled and they have a centralised flying programme," he said.
The first Mk3s could go to Afghanistan as early as July, although Shell says he would like to have sent at least one aircraft on a desert training exercise, such as Jebel Sahara in Morocco to ensure the aircraft is ready to face desert conditions.
Senior instructors have already trained on the type and are in the process of training QHIs who will then in turn pass their knowledge onto line crews. A short conversion course has been devised which will allow crews to be dual rated on both the Mk2 and the reverted Mk3s, while ground engineers are undergoing short courses readying them for the type.
The Chinook fleet continues to be worked hard, both at home for training and in Afghanistan, closing in on 18,000 fleet flying hours, compared to 12,000 five years ago.
Maintenance has also been enhanced, Vector Fleetlands says it is carrying out major servicing on Chinooks in 108 days down from 148 and minor servicing in 38 days compared to 46 helping to improve aircraft availability.
The reverted Mk3s embody many of the improvements planned for the rest of the Chinook fleet in the coming years. They feature the more powerful Honeywell T55-L-714A which have been designed for hot and high operations offering an increase in power by 17%.
They also feature the new future-proof self defence suite, including the Selex AN/AAR-57 Common Missile Warning System introduced under Project Baker while Project Benic delivers a new secure communications system. The Mk3s also introduce 'fat tanks' as seen on the CH-47SD and the MH-47. These give an extra three hours of endurance and 1,000 miles of range.
The government is of course keen not to repeat the procurement mistakes made with the Mk3. Mr Ainsworth said the government was would soon launch a green paper looking into: 'acquisition reform strategy of how we procure major platforms.'
By the end of 2010 the RAF will have a fleet of 46 Chinooks, and the contract to buy a further 22, plus two attrition replacements for those lost in Afghanistan last year should have been signed, although it remains unclear where those aircraft will come from. In a throw-away remark, Quentin Davies said they could come from 'Antarctica', as long as they were on time, on cost and met the requirements of the RAF.
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