FT. CAMPBELL, Ky., July 12, 1995 -- The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) marked completion of its transition to Boeing MH-47E Special Operations Chinooks during ceremonies late last month.
The 160th has been operating the new rotorcraft since 1993 while flight crews completed training with the Special Operations Chinook's sophisticated integrated cockpit control system.
Delivery of the 26th MH-47E to the Ft. Campbell unit took place in May 1995. The first Special Operations Chinook has served as a flight test prototype, and aircraft numbers 2 and 3 were utilized initially for electromagnetic environmental effects and aircraft survivability equipment testing at the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Maryland.
"Today's MH-47E transition ceremony marks a major growth in capability for our Special Operations Aviation Regiment customers," said Denton R. Hanford, vice president and general manager, Boeing Defense & Space Group, Helicopters Division.
"The Special Operations Chinook will be an important addition to the 160th as it carries out its future mission requirements."
The MH-47E utilizes the world's most advanced integrated helicopter avionics systems to provide capability for U. S. Special Operations Forces to fly missions at low level, day or night, in adverse weather and through all types of terrain. The aircraft's Integrated Avionics System (IAS) permits global communication and navigation and includes forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and will soon have multimode radar for nap-of-the-earth, low visibility flight.
All of the Special Operations Chinooks are modernized aircraft, having been converted from earlier-model CH-47 airframes.
The U. S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) currently has a funded requirement to equip its special operations aviation units with a total of 26 MH-47E and 23 Sikorsky MH- 60K Black Hawk special operations helicopters. The aircraft share common and interchangeable avionics systems.
Boeing Defense & Space Group, Helicopters Division, is a unit of The Boeing Company, whose headquarters are in Seattle.