IAF inducts Chinook helicopters as US muscles into Russia’s copter monopoly
The Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) first four Chinook CH-47F helicopters that Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa inducted into the fleet on Monday will swell within a year to a fleet size of 15 choppers.
Senior IAF officers say that this $1.5 billion purchase from US firm, Boeing, which was signed in September 2015, will almost certainly be followed by an additional order.
Given the Chinook’s utility, both in war and in disaster relief missions in peacetime, more of these helicopters are needed for a country India’s size.
The Chinook replaces the Russian Mi-26 in the heavy lift class — the first helicopter category in which America has supplanted Russia’s dominance in India. Later this year, after the induction of Boeing’s Apache AH-64E attack helicopters, Russian Mi-35s will start being retired.
