A $240 million U.S. Army contract to upgrade five more Chinook helicopters should keep Boeing’s Ridley Park plant busy at least through 2030, writes Joseph DiStefano for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The contract came from the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command.
With the new work order, Boeing is now rebuilding 51 Chinooks for the Army under the MH-47G Block II program.
The Army has been rebuilding the Vietnam-era heavy-lift helicopters, reinforcing airframes, improving fuel tanks, adding aviation electronics and making them easier to maintain.
The Chinooks are also used by more than a dozen U.S. allies in East Asia and the Middle East.
Last year, Germany contracted with Boeing for up to $8 billion in Chinooks to help in the potential worsening conflict with Russia.
The United Kingdom, South Korea, and Egypt are also buying Chinooks under current contracts.
The plant, which pioneered the V-22 Ospreys, maintains an active assembly line to build the tilt-rotor aircraft. It has not added new aircraft lines in the last few decades.
The company said it would continue using Ridley Park as an engineering center even if production of current aircraft ceased.
Find out more about Boeing’s Ridley Park operations in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
