Boeing to modernize Dutch CH-47 helicopters

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Boeing will upgrade six Royal Netherlands air force Chinook helicopters to the latest F-model configuration, the aircraft manufacturer said.

The modernization effort will ensure commonality, operational effectiveness and maintenance of systems for the air force's fleet of 20 Chinook helicopters, the Chicago-based company said in a release Thursday.

"The Netherlands' Defense Materiel Organization (DMO) is responsible for providing the Dutch armed forces with the best equipment money can buy, and our troops deserve that," Col. Koen van Gogh, DMO project leader, said in a statement. "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.

"(It is) a true versatile workhorse of our defense organization."

A feature of modernization includes advanced operational capabilities through a common avionics architecture system cockpit, Boeing said.

The Netherlands bought 14 CH-47F Chinooks in 2016 through the U.S. Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales program.

Boeing plans to start delivering the upgraded helicopters to the Netherlands in 2021, Boeing said.