Boeing Contracts Heroux-Devtek for Chinook Landing Gear

Boeing has awarded a multi-year contract to Heroux-Devtek for the production and delivery of landing gear for the US Army's CH-47 Chinook medium-to-heavy-lift helicopters.

The company will manufacture and supply the landing gear for an anticipated 155 Chinook helicopters, which will be delivered to the US Army during the next five years.

Additional contract options, which are exercisable at Boeing's discretion, will include the landing gear development for up to 150 more Chinooks over the same period.

Heroux-Devtek president and CEO Gilles Labbe said the contract further would expand the company's reach on the CH-47 programme and strengthen its position as a landing gear supplier.

The latest contract represents the third work agreement for Heroux-Devtek on the CH-47 programme, with the first signed in September 2009 for the fabrication, assembly, testing and supply of landing gear for CH-47F aircraft delivered to non-US customers, including Canadian Forces.

As part of a second agreement, announced in September 2012, the company obtained Boeing's licence to manufacture replacement parts and also perform repair and upgrades of the landing gear of all Chinook variants.

Deliveries under the new contract are scheduled to start in the first half of 2014, and will continue for five years.

Powered by two Honeywell T55-L-712 turboshaft engines, the CH-47 Chinook is a heavy-lift, high-altitude helicopter used by the US Army for troop transportation, artillery and cargo supplies, humanitarian, disaster relief, search-and-rescue and fire-fighting missions.

The helicopter first entered service with US Army in 1962, and currently more than 450 are operational with the armed forces of 17 nations, including the UK, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Greece, Korea and Spain.