U.S. Army Orders More CH-47Fs

The U.S. Army has ordered 66 more Boeing CH-47F Chinooks for $1.5 billion. The Army plans to buy a total of 452 CH-47Fs, with the first to be deployed in July. The new Chinook is in final testing at Fort Campbell, Ky. Fort Rucker, Ala. and Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Boeing's plant .near Philadelphia is building three Chinooks a month, both new and remanufactured. The new CH-47Fs replace analog avionics with digital displays and new global positioning system-guided avionics that can fly the craft automatically in a hover, then swoop into a landing area. The new model can carry 21,5000 lb of passengers and cargo. More