UK recommits to new Chinooks, following review

The UK is to get 14 new CH-47 Chinook ER helicopters, which will be similar in appearance to the ‘fat tank’ Chinook HC5 variant (pictured) already in RAF service. (Janes/Patrick Allen)

The UK has recommitted to its previously announced plan to buy new Boeing Chinooks, with the Secretary of State for Defence, Grant Shapps, announcing a buy of 14 helicopters on 14 March.

Speaking during a visit to British forces exercising in Poland, Shapps reiterated the plan to buy the new CH-47 Chinook Extended Range (ER) helicopters, which had been subject to a Ministry of Defence (MoD) review on cost grounds.