A group of soldiers in Kentucky has seen the future of the U.S. Army’s heavy-lift capability and they are impressed.
Aircrew from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell spent last year testing the CH-47F Chinook Block II. The verdict? The Pennsylvania-made helicopter’s cutting-edge advancements allow it to carry more soldiers, farther and faster.
While it has the twin rotors that have made the Chinook iconic around the world, the Block II version has new avionics and mission systems, structural enhancements, and more power than the previous iteration.
As one of the testers from the renowned 101st put it: “We are already trying to push the capabilities of our current helicopters in gross weight, endurance, and speed, so this helicopter, with its improvements in all of those areas, aligns with us perfectly.”