U.S. approves delivery of 60 CH-47F Chinook transport helicopters for Germany
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
The U.S. Department of War has awarded Boeing an $876 million contract to supply up to 60 CH-47F Block II helicopters for Germany under a long-planned Foreign Military Sales program. The deal strengthens Germany’s heavy lift capacity and supports NATO’s shift toward faster regional reinforcement on the eastern flank.
The U.S. Department of War authorized on October 27, 2025, Boeing was awarded a hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract worth 876,422,130 dollars to deliver up to 60 CH-47F Block II cargo helicopters for Germany, including performance-based logistics, training and non-recurring engineering. The contract, registered as W58RGZ-26-C-0003, is funded with Fiscal 2026 Germany Foreign Military Sales case money and runs until an estimated completion date of October 28, 2035, with work performed at Boeing’s Ridley Park facility in Pennsylvania. For Germany, this award turns years of planning for a new heavy-lift helicopter into a funded reality and marks one of the signature rotary-wing projects of its post-Ukraine defense overhaul.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Germany’s new CH-47F Chinook brings 12-ton heavy lift, long-range refueling, and a modern digital, self-protected cockpit for high-intensity NATO missions (Picture source: Honeywell).
The U.S. FMS contract sits on top of a larger German program, valued in Berlin at around 7 billion euros, for 60 CH-47F Block II aircraft to replace the Luftwaffe’s ageing CH-53G Sea Stallion fleet. The deal is financed from the 100-billion-euro Sondervermögen special fund created under Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Zeitenwende, which is intended to rebuild the Bundeswehr as a credible high-intensity force and meet NATO’s 2% spending benchmark. The Chinooks will be based mainly at Holzdorf and Laupheim with Helicopter Wing 64, gradually phasing out CH-53 operations by around 2030 and anchoring Germany’s contribution to NATO’s new regional defense plans, particularly rapid reinforcement of the eastern flank.
The CH-47F Block II is the most advanced version of a battle-proven heavy lifter that first entered service in the 1960s. The tandem-rotor helicopter is powered by two Honeywell T55-GA-714A turboshaft engines, each producing roughly 4,800 shaft horsepower, giving a maximum speed of about 302 km/h and a cruise speed near 291 km/h. Maximum gross weight is in the 24,500 kg class, with a useful load of around 12 tonnes that can be carried internally or on three external cargo hooks. The aircraft can transport up to 36 troops or 24 stretchers, or sling heavy equipment such as artillery pieces, engineer vehicles and bridge sections. Block II adds Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades in composite materials, a strengthened airframe and transmission and a simplified, larger fuel system, together delivering several thousand pounds of extra lift in hot-and-high conditions and extending structural life while reducing maintenance.
Inside the cockpit, the CH-47F uses the Common Avionics Architecture System with large multifunction displays, a digital moving map and an advanced Automatic Flight Control System that provides precise hover hold, coupled approaches and low-visibility landing modes. Germany’s configuration layers in secure UHF/VHF and SATCOM radios, modern IFF, GPS/INS navigation and full night-vision compatibility, tightly aligned with NATO standards. Survivability is assured by a suite of missile, radar and laser warning sensors, chaff and flare dispensers, ballistic protection and crashworthy seating, together with provisions for side-door and ramp-mounted machine guns. Critically for German and NATO concepts of operation, the Chinooks will be delivered with air-to-air refueling probes and extended-range tanks, allowing long-range missions when paired with KC-130J or A400M tankers. The performance-based logistics package and embedded health- and usage-monitoring systems are intended to deliver higher availability than Germany’s current CH-53G fleet, which has long struggled with age-related maintenance issues.
In a national or Article 5 crisis, CH-47F Block II can rapidly move infantry platoons, artillery batteries, air defense units and combat engineers across Germany and into frontline states, bypassing rail bottlenecks and damaged infrastructure. Triple-hook underslung operations allow multiple loads in a single sortie, such as a light vehicle and palletized ammunition, enabling flexible resupply of dispersed battle groups. For special operations forces and combat search-and-rescue, the combination of long endurance, in-flight refueling, advanced defensive aids and fast-rope or hoist systems will allow deep insertion and recovery missions from German territory into the Baltic region or other NATO frontlines. In peacetime, the Chinook’s lift and range will also be valuable for domestic disaster relief, where the current CH-53G fleet has often been stretched to its limits.
The strategic logic behind Berlin’s choice is clear. There is effectively no direct Western competitor to the Chinook as a widely fielded heavy-lift helicopter. The U.S. Marine Corps’ CH-53K King Stallion can lift more, but at significantly higher acquisition and operating costs and with a far smaller international user base. Russia’s Mi-26 sits in an entirely different geopolitical category. By contrast, the CH-47F is already operated by a long list of NATO allies, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Canada, as well as partners such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. Germany’s decision buys not just airframes but entry into a mature multinational community with shared tactics, logistics and training, which greatly simplifies coalition operations.
Industrial participation adds another layer of value: Boeing’s Chinook team for Germany includes Airbus Helicopters Deutschland, ESG, Lufthansa Technik and other local companies that will provide maintenance, training and depot-level support on German soil. This secures skilled jobs, creates a national support hub for Chinook fleets in Central Europe and aligns with Berlin’s broader strategy of strengthening its defense industrial base even when major platforms are sourced from the United States.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
The U.S. Department of War has awarded Boeing an $876 million contract to supply up to 60 CH-47F Block II helicopters for Germany under a long-planned Foreign Military Sales program. The deal strengthens Germany’s heavy lift capacity and supports NATO’s shift toward faster regional reinforcement on the eastern flank.
The U.S. Department of War authorized on October 27, 2025, Boeing was awarded a hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract worth 876,422,130 dollars to deliver up to 60 CH-47F Block II cargo helicopters for Germany, including performance-based logistics, training and non-recurring engineering. The contract, registered as W58RGZ-26-C-0003, is funded with Fiscal 2026 Germany Foreign Military Sales case money and runs until an estimated completion date of October 28, 2035, with work performed at Boeing’s Ridley Park facility in Pennsylvania. For Germany, this award turns years of planning for a new heavy-lift helicopter into a funded reality and marks one of the signature rotary-wing projects of its post-Ukraine defense overhaul.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Germany’s new CH-47F Chinook brings 12-ton heavy lift, long-range refueling, and a modern digital, self-protected cockpit for high-intensity NATO missions (Picture source: Honeywell).
The U.S. FMS contract sits on top of a larger German program, valued in Berlin at around 7 billion euros, for 60 CH-47F Block II aircraft to replace the Luftwaffe’s ageing CH-53G Sea Stallion fleet. The deal is financed from the 100-billion-euro Sondervermögen special fund created under Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Zeitenwende, which is intended to rebuild the Bundeswehr as a credible high-intensity force and meet NATO’s 2% spending benchmark. The Chinooks will be based mainly at Holzdorf and Laupheim with Helicopter Wing 64, gradually phasing out CH-53 operations by around 2030 and anchoring Germany’s contribution to NATO’s new regional defense plans, particularly rapid reinforcement of the eastern flank.
The CH-47F Block II is the most advanced version of a battle-proven heavy lifter that first entered service in the 1960s. The tandem-rotor helicopter is powered by two Honeywell T55-GA-714A turboshaft engines, each producing roughly 4,800 shaft horsepower, giving a maximum speed of about 302 km/h and a cruise speed near 291 km/h. Maximum gross weight is in the 24,500 kg class, with a useful load of around 12 tonnes that can be carried internally or on three external cargo hooks. The aircraft can transport up to 36 troops or 24 stretchers, or sling heavy equipment such as artillery pieces, engineer vehicles and bridge sections. Block II adds Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades in composite materials, a strengthened airframe and transmission and a simplified, larger fuel system, together delivering several thousand pounds of extra lift in hot-and-high conditions and extending structural life while reducing maintenance.
Inside the cockpit, the CH-47F uses the Common Avionics Architecture System with large multifunction displays, a digital moving map and an advanced Automatic Flight Control System that provides precise hover hold, coupled approaches and low-visibility landing modes. Germany’s configuration layers in secure UHF/VHF and SATCOM radios, modern IFF, GPS/INS navigation and full night-vision compatibility, tightly aligned with NATO standards. Survivability is assured by a suite of missile, radar and laser warning sensors, chaff and flare dispensers, ballistic protection and crashworthy seating, together with provisions for side-door and ramp-mounted machine guns. Critically for German and NATO concepts of operation, the Chinooks will be delivered with air-to-air refueling probes and extended-range tanks, allowing long-range missions when paired with KC-130J or A400M tankers. The performance-based logistics package and embedded health- and usage-monitoring systems are intended to deliver higher availability than Germany’s current CH-53G fleet, which has long struggled with age-related maintenance issues.
In a national or Article 5 crisis, CH-47F Block II can rapidly move infantry platoons, artillery batteries, air defense units and combat engineers across Germany and into frontline states, bypassing rail bottlenecks and damaged infrastructure. Triple-hook underslung operations allow multiple loads in a single sortie, such as a light vehicle and palletized ammunition, enabling flexible resupply of dispersed battle groups. For special operations forces and combat search-and-rescue, the combination of long endurance, in-flight refueling, advanced defensive aids and fast-rope or hoist systems will allow deep insertion and recovery missions from German territory into the Baltic region or other NATO frontlines. In peacetime, the Chinook’s lift and range will also be valuable for domestic disaster relief, where the current CH-53G fleet has often been stretched to its limits.
The strategic logic behind Berlin’s choice is clear. There is effectively no direct Western competitor to the Chinook as a widely fielded heavy-lift helicopter. The U.S. Marine Corps’ CH-53K King Stallion can lift more, but at significantly higher acquisition and operating costs and with a far smaller international user base. Russia’s Mi-26 sits in an entirely different geopolitical category. By contrast, the CH-47F is already operated by a long list of NATO allies, including the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Canada, as well as partners such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. Germany’s decision buys not just airframes but entry into a mature multinational community with shared tactics, logistics and training, which greatly simplifies coalition operations.
Industrial participation adds another layer of value: Boeing’s Chinook team for Germany includes Airbus Helicopters Deutschland, ESG, Lufthansa Technik and other local companies that will provide maintenance, training and depot-level support on German soil. This secures skilled jobs, creates a national support hub for Chinook fleets in Central Europe and aligns with Berlin’s broader strategy of strengthening its defense industrial base even when major platforms are sourced from the United States.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
