Boeing has been awarded a multi-year performance-based logistics (PBL) contract to continue providing support for the US Army’s CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter fleet.
.Under the $185m firm-fixed-price contract, Boeing will manage development, upgrade and delivery of the army’s Chinook rotor blades over the next five years.
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Boeing Rotorcraft Support vice president Peri Widener said the PBL awards represented outcome-focused sustainment contracts, which confirmed enhanced performance and reduced costs.
"We work with our customer to reduce costs through longer-term agreements, purchasing only the parts needed and investing in techniques that extend the life of key components," Widener said.
The PBL award reduces customer costs, by enabling payment for a support package with an agreed-to level of readiness, unlike traditional contracts, while also helping Boeing continue improvement of products and processes.
Boeing has been working with the US Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command (AMCOM) to develop new methods for enhancing tooling used for production and repair of Chinook rotor blades.
The company also improved the Chinook supply chain’s efficiency and capacity using enhanced asset management and forecasting tools, an improved supplier network, as well as a public-private partnership with the Corpus Christi Army Depot.
In addition to the US Army Chinooks, Boeing also manages PBL contracts for the AH-64 Apache, V-22 Osprey, and several foreign CH-47 helicopters.
The CH-47 Chinook is a heavy-lift, high-altitude helicopter used by the US Army for many operations, including military, humanitarian, disaster relief, search-and-rescue, and firefighting.
More than 450 helicopters are currently operational with armed forces of 17 nations, including the UK, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Greece, Korea and Spain.
Image: US Army’s soldiers conducting a pinnacle using CH-47F Chinook helicopter. Photo: courtesy of staff Sgt Nathan Hoskins.
