U.S. Special Operations Command has taken receipt of its first MH-47G Block II Chinook from Boeing on time, according to a Sept. 1 company statement.
A special operations Chinook weighs roughly 54,000 pounds while a conventional Chinook weighs 50,000 pounds.
The upgrades in the Block II version include newly designed rotor blades, major changes to the drive system and other improvements like non-segmented fuel cells.
Boeing produced three aircraft for flight tests, but the helicopter SOCOM has received is the first production-grade aircraft to come off the line to be used in operational missions. Boeing is on contract to deliver 23 more MH-47Gs, after minting a deal with SOCOM at the end of July.
While the Army originally planned to buy 542 Bock II Chinooks — 473 “F” models and 69 “G” models — the service decided to cut the planned acquisition in its fiscal 2020 budget request with plans to purchase only G models for special operations.
