CH‑47 Chinook considered amid fleet modernization debate

Although modernizing the helicopter fleet is essential, the way the military orders various types of machines is causing much controversy. This is especially true since another entry may appear on the list of helicopters operated by Poland: the CH-47 Chinook heavy transport helicopter.

During the Boeing Engineering Center opening in Warsaw, Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Bejda mentioned talks regarding Poland's purchase of new armaments. The list, alongside Apache helicopters and F-15 aircraft, also includes CH-47 Chinook helicopters.

Although previous declarations from the Ministry of National Defense indicated that the AW-101 would fulfill the role of heavy transport helicopters in Poland, these tasks are assigned to Chinooks in many Western countries.

- We are talking (...) about Chinooks as transport helicopters that are also needed by the Polish army - stated Deputy Minister Paweł Bejda.

These are real workhorses in the American and British armies. In Europe, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Italy use them, and the Czechs have also expressed interest in acquiring them. In 2023, Germany signed an agreement worth €8 billion (approximately CAD 11 billion) to deliver 60 CH-47F Chinook helicopters.

What makes this unusual machine so popular worldwide?

The CH-47 Chinook is an extraordinary helicopter. Its uniqueness is due not only to its unusual technical solutions but primarily to its capabilities. Because of these, the machine, developed in the 1960s, is not only still in use but also continues to be grown and produced by the manufacturer.

The helicopter was built in an arrangement known as the "flying banana," with two counter-rotating main rotors at opposite fuselage ends. This unusual solution has many advantages.

Because such a helicopter does not have a tail boom, almost the entire length of the fuselage can be used for cargo space. The lack of a vertical tail rotor also means that all the engine power is used to generate thrust, positively affecting the machine's payload capacity.

The two main rotors also allow for effective response to changes in the helicopter's center of gravity, essential during troop airdrops or the dropping of various cargoes. In practice, the machine is so well-balanced and stable that it can, for example, rest the end of its fuselage on a steep slope, allowing for unloading or loading in a place where landing is impossible.

This facilitates the use of a huge, wide ramp, which – because of the lack of a tail boom – can be the same size as the width and height of the cargo space.

The very low undercarriage of the helicopter—the level of the cargo space is just above the ground—also makes using it, as well as the doors on the sides of the fuselage, easier. This allows, for example, the very efficient "loading" of a motorboat, which—after submerging part of the helicopter's fuselage in water—can sail directly into the cargo hold.

The cargo can also be carried outside the helicopter, suspended under the fuselage.

The key disadvantage of the "flying banana" is the high air resistance, which limits the helicopter's speed and range. The machine also requires a three-person crew—in addition to two pilots, a flight engineer responsible for the transported cargo is also necessary on board.

The CH-47 Chinook, in the currently produced version CH-47F, is a machine with a length of approximately 30 metres, of which approximately 16 metres is the fuselage (the length is increased by the rotors extending beyond its outline).

The maximum takeoff weight of the machine exceeds 22,000 kilograms, of which over 10,000 kilograms can be payload or several dozen (depending on the equipment, up to 55) soldiers. There is a known case where, during one evacuation in Vietnam, a single helicopter transported over 140 passengers.

Two Honeywell T55 engines power the CH-47F. They allow the machine to reach speeds of up to 315 km/h and an altitude of 6,100 metres. The Chinook's range is up to 740 kilometres, but it can be increased thanks to in-flight refueling capability.

Regardless of the CH-47's advantages, Poland's potential purchase of these machines may raise concerns. The Polish army needs heavy transport helicopters, but the problem in this case is the fleet's increasing fragmentation.

Many countries aim to simplify their helicopter fleets—actions to this end are being undertaken by the United States, Spain, and the Czech Republic, among others. Capabilities are differentiated not by ordering various types of machines but by ordering different variants of one's equipment in larger numbers.

Examples include the American Black Hawk multipurpose helicopters used both in the transport machine variant and for naval, medical evacuation, special forces support, and many others.

Meanwhile, Poland currently uses or plans to order at least 12 types of helicopters (AH-64E Apache, AW101, AW149, Mi-2, Mi-8, Mi-17, Mi-24, S-70i Black Hawk, SH-2G Seasprite, SW-4 Puszczyk and its successor, W-3 Sokół, and the CH-47 Chinook mentioned by the deputy minister).

Exploitation of micro-fleets results in increasingly complex logistics, rising costs of building and maintaining infrastructure, as well as training both crews and ground personnel. The list will be shortened with the withdrawal of post-Soviet machines (which is to happen by 2030), but even then, it will remain long.