One billion for six helicopters: UAE orders Chinook helicopters

The United States has approved the possible sale of six CH-47F Chinook heavy military transport helicopters to the UAE, along with a set of additional equipment for more than a billion dollars.

This is evidenced by the published authorization of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

The State Department has approved the possible sale of six CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters with an air-to-air refueling system and larger fuel tanks to the government of the United Arab Emirates.

The potential contract also includes:

• 4 spare T-55-GA-714A aircraft engines and other spare parts
• AN/AAR-57 missile warning systems
• AN/ARC-231A and AN/ARC-220 radio stations
• 20 M240 machine guns
• AN/APR-39A radar warning systems
• AN/AVR-2B laser detectors (LDS)
• AN/ARC-220 high-frequency radios
• WESCAM MX-15HDi optical/infrared surveillance systems
• AN/APN-209 radio altimeters
• AN/APX-123A identification, friend or foe transponders
• Rapid descent/evacuation systems (FRIES)

Together with personnel training and contracts for technical, engineering, and logistics support, the deal was worth a whopping $1.32 billion.

However, it is worth noting that this is not the initial deployment of a new type of equipment, which usually entails large infrastructure and maintenance costs. The country already owns a fleet of eight CH-47Ds of the previous modification, which are operated by special operations units.

This price is driven by the export nature of the contract, as well as a large package of related equipment and services.

For comparison, the US Special Operations Command signed a contract with Boeing two years earlier to supply six additional MH-47G Chinook helicopters worth $271 million.

If the contracts are signed by the UAE government, the country’s armed forces will finally fill the need for new military transport helicopters, which remains open after the cancellation of the H225 Caracal deal in May 2023.

At that time, the €800 million deal with Airbus envisaged the delivery of 12 H225 helicopters in military modification, but was withdrawn due to “high life cycle costs, limitations in adapting to future mission requirements and a complex technical proposal.”