Local bipartisan support in Congress has resulted in restored funds for Boeing’s Army Chinook CH-47 helicopter upgrades, writes Joseph N. DiStefano for  The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Funds for the upgrades had been cut by the Trump Administration last winter but the additional $28 million for the CH-47 Block II program was restored in The National Defense Authorization Act.

The Act also gives the Army the option to buy more of the helicopters.

One of the supporters for restoring the funds was U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D.), who represents the Boeing helicopter plant site in Ridley, where 4,500 workers are employed.

“The act includes some advanced procurement that keeps us on track, but it’s not the final step,” said Andrew Africk, spokesman for Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

The Chinook program still needs funding through a pending appropriations bill and additional approvals and funding next year to protect the program long-term, said U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon’s spokeswoman Gabby Richard.

The Army’s Chinooks and the Osprey vertical-takeoff aircraft, a favorite of the Navy and Marines, are the main products of the plant, built in the 1960s.

Read more about the Army Chinook work at the Boeing plant here.

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