Nichols Martin
The Netherlands’ defense ministry has awarded Boeing a contract to modernize and deliver six Chinook multimission helicopters for the Dutch air force beginning in 2021.
Boeing said Thursday it will convert the helicopters into the F-model configuration to ensure systems commonality in the Dutch air force’s 20-unit Chinook fleet.
“Ever since their introduction in the mid-1990s, the Chinooks have been continuously involved in almost all of our missions abroad, but also in disaster relief operations and in domestic support,” said Col. Koen van Gogh, project leader at the Netherlands’ defense materiel organization.
The F-model configuration is designed to have a Common Avionics Architecture System cockpit with a Digital Automatic Flight Control System and supports interoperability with U.S. Army and other allied forces.
The Dutch air force received initial F-type Chinooks in 2016 through the U.S. Defense Department‘s foreign military sales program.
Boeing has delivered more than 900 units of the helicopter platform to domestic and international defense customers.
