Three newly modernized CH-47D Chinook heavy-lift helicopters have begun service in Egypt, the result of cooperation between the Egyptian Air Force (EAF), Boeing and the US Army’s Security Assistance Management Directorate (SAMD).
The Chinooks were unloaded from a transport ship that arrived on May 28, 2003, in the port city of Alexandria. The aircraft were assembled, inspected and tested, and then flown to Kom Awshem Air Force Base, about 100 kilometers south of Cairo.
The three Chinooks, one of them delivered six weeks ahead of schedule, officially joined their new squadron on June 4, and began operation in military missions and training almost immediately thereafter.
Boeing Egypt program manager, Carl Trincia, coordinated the acceptance process at Kom Awshem. EAF aircrews and mechanics handled most of the tasks during delivery, while US Army SAMD staff directed the operation with assistance from a US Army technical assistance forward team.
Boeing manufactured four new CH-47Ds for the Egyptian Air Force in 1999, and is completing modernization of 12 of the 15 CH-47C Chinooks in the EAF fleet. Boeing delivered the first modernized Chinook in December 2002. Seven aircraft will be delivered this year, with the remaining four aircraft scheduled for 2004.
Boeing, the EAF and the US Army have begun discussions on the feasibility of upgrading the remaining three CH-47C aircraft, which would increase the Egyptian CH-47D fleet to 19 newly manufactured or modernized Chinooks.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $25 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers.
It is a provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world’s largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for US missile defense; NASA’s largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
