美国陆军官员表示，在承诺全面采购之前，他们计划让一线部队利用目前订购的24架最新版CH-47F“支奴干”重型直升机进行测试。这使得波音最新款“支奴干”重型直升机近期内进入全速率生产的前景受阻。
在2024年做出向CH-47F Block II全速率生产迈进的口头承诺后，陆军目前除了合同已有的24架飞机外，不再承诺追加采购。据一名陆军航空兵高级将领在纳什维尔举行的美国陆军航空协会会议上透露，陆军将把新直升机部署到一线部队，由他们对最新的Block II版本进行评估，之后再决定是否追加采购。
大卫·菲利普斯准将表示：“我们将拥有总共24架Block II。我们可以将这些飞机投入实战，收集前线的反馈，看看接下来的采购计划会是什么，从而为陆军提供决策空间。”
波音公司已经向陆军交付了6架最新的Block II“支奴干”，目前合同总数为24架。覆盖陆军最后6架Block II快速部署计划的Lot 6合同已于4月15日签署。
这些飞机与波音一直向美国特种作战司令部和英国皇家空军交付的MH-47G特种作战机型有显著区别。虽然版本不同，但MH-47G和CH-47F Block II共享通用核心。两者均在波音位于费城的同一工厂组装。
虽然美国陆军尚未正式放弃Block II计划，但24架飞机仅占该军种常规航空旅目前服役的400多架CH-47中的一小部分。此前美方发布的2027财年预算草案显著削减了飞机采购数量。
Army officials say they plan to let frontline troops test out the latest version of the heavy-lift CH-47F helicopter with the 24 examples currently on order before committing to a full procurement.
This throws cold water on the prospects of a full-rate fielding of Boeing’s newest Chinook heavy-lift helicopter any time soon.
After making a rhetorical commitment in 2024 to move toward full-rate production of CH-47F Block II, the army is, for now, not committing to additional Chinook purchases beyond the 24 aircraft already on contract.
Instead, the army will deploy the new helicopters to frontline troops, who will evaluate the latest Block II before a decision is made on additional purchases. That is according to one of the service’s top aviation generals, who spoke at the Army Aviation Association of America conference in Nashville on 16 April.
“We’ll have 24 total Block IIs,” says Brigadier General David Phillips. “We can get those out in the field, get the feedback from the field and see what the next procurements could be, to give the army decision space.”
Boeing has already delivered six of the latest Block II Chinooks to the army, with 24 examples under contract. A Lot 6 contract covering the final six examples of the army’s CH-47F Block II rapid fielding initiative was signed on 15 April.
Those aircraft are notably separate from the MH-47G special operations Chinook variant that Boeing has been actively delivering to US Special Operations Command and the UK Royal Air Force (RAF). Although distinct, the MH-47G and CH-47F Block II share a common core. Both are assembled at the same Boeing site in Philadelphia.
While the US Army is not officially walking away from its Block II plans, 24 aircraft represents only a small fraction of the more than 400 CH-47s currently flown by the service’s conventional aviation brigades.
A draft version of the fiscal year 2027 budget released by the White House earlier this month significantly cut aircraft procurement numbers for the army and notably included no funds for Block II Chinooks.
Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, who represents the district of Pennsylvania where Boeing’s Chinook assembly plant is located, told Aviation Week on 15 April that she believes this move is a ploy get lawmakers in Congress to take responsibility for funding the programme.
On several occasions legislators have inserted a small number of one-off Block II Chinook purchases into the army’s annual budget.
Failure to secure a long-term production contract from its biggest customer will have an adverse impact on Boeing’s vertical lift business. Under the administration of former US President Joe Biden, the Department of the Army had assured Boeing such a deal was coming.
However, the army is now downplaying that, saying that Boeing has enough work for the moment.
Boeing still has the army’s 18 remaining Block II aircraft to churn through, in addition to ongoing MH-47G orders from SOCOM and the 14 examples going to the RAF. The company
