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Boeing Chinook (UK variants)
Series of military transport helicopters / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Boeing Chinook is a large, tandem rotor helicopter operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A series of variants based on the United States Army's Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the RAF Chinook fleet is the largest outside the United States.[1] RAF Chinooks have seen extensive service in the Falklands War, the Balkans, Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Chinook | |
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Chinook HC6A of 18 Sqn RAF in 2020 | |
Role | Transport helicopter |
Manufacturer | Boeing Defense, Space & Security |
First flight | 23 March 1980 (HC1) |
Introduction | 1980 with RAF |
Status | In service |
Primary user | Royal Air Force |
Developed from | Boeing CH-47 Chinook |
The Chinook, normally based at RAF Odiham in England, provides heavy-lift support and transport across all branches of the British armed forces since the early 1980s.[2] The RAF has a total of sixty Chinooks in active inventory as of 2015.[3] In 2018, the UK issued a request to the United States to purchase sixteen additional rotorcraft.[4] The Chinook is expected to remain in RAF service until the 2040s.[5]