THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Sept. 9 (UPI) — The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands plans to buy 14 new CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the United States and update six already in service.
The intent was relayed the lower house of parliament earlier this week in a letter from Defense Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
“The US Army variant of the Chinook complies, with some adjustments, to Dutch operating requirements,” the Defense Ministry said in announcing the decision. “These modifications will be carried out after production in the United States.
“They involve, inter alia, crash-resistant seats in the cockpit and the passenger cabin, and a VHF Combat Net Radio for secure communication with Dutch units on the ground. Other modifications will be evaluated.”
The ministry said it expects to sign the Letter of Agreement for the helicopters in December, which will add the Dutch order to a larger production order at Boeing.
The buy carries a value of about $936.8 million but the could be lower through the reuse of components from the current D models Chinooks the Netherlands is replacing with the CH-47F MYII CAAS .
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