Since the 1960s, the Chinook helicopter has been built and rebuilt at the Boeing plant in Ridley Township, along the Delaware River, writes Joseph DiStefano for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

If a pilot upgrade program that starts this summer goes well, Chinooks will continue to be made and updated in Delaware County through at least the 2050s, company and U.S. Army officials said at a recent pep rally and luncheon at the facility.

Boeing is the largest industrial employer in the Philadelphia area, but the plant’s number of employees has shrunk from 6,100 to 4,600 since a $130 million upgrade that started in 2011.

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The company plans an additional $100 million upgrade to the north end of its plant to accommodate future production of the V-22 Osprey, which is currently assembled in a former warehouse on the western side of Route 291, next to the engineering center and east of the main production works.

The Boeing plant completes work on about four Chinooks and one to two Ospreys per month.

Read more about Boeing in The Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.

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