Ridley Township, Pa.,
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA]
has received a U.S. Army contract valued at approximately $370 million for 14
CH-47F Chinook helicopters to support Foreign Military Sales efforts.

The
aircraft will be delivered to the U.S. Army beginning in 2014; all but one are
intended for Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

“This new aircraft sale brings our Chinook backlog to more than 200 aircraft
for both domestic and international customers worldwide,” said Leanne Caret,
H-47 Programs vice president. “Boeing’s recent $130 million investment to create
a world-class Chinook manufacturing facility near Philadelphia means we are well
positioned to respond to this demand.”

Seven of the new Chinooks will be delivered to the Australian Defence Force
and six aircraft will be delivered to the United Arab Emirates under the terms
of a previously announced Foreign Military Sales agreement between the U.S.
government and the two countries. One additional aircraft is to be delivered to
the U.S. Army to fulfill its own requirements.

“This sale is indicative of the tremendous interest from customers around the
world who need best-in-class, multirole heavy-lift capabilities for military and
humanitarian missions,” Caret added.

The H-47 program is at the midpoint of executing a multiyear contract for 191
CH-47F Chinook aircraft that was awarded in August 2008 and originally valued at
$4.3 billion. In November, Boeing submitted a proposal to the U.S. government
for a second multiyear contract for 155 Chinooks for the U.S. Army. This second
five-year, firm fixed-price proposal would provide the Army with close to the
full complement of 464 Chinooks outlined in the Department of Defense program of
record and would yield double-digit percentage savings over a single-year
procurement strategy. A decision is expected early next year.

Since completing the first CH-47F production aircraft in August 2006, Boeing
has trained and equipped eight U.S. Army units and is in the process of
equipping the ninth. Six units have completed deployments in Iraq and
Afghanistan, where the helicopter has logged nearly 70,000 flight hours and
maintained an operational readiness rate of more than 85 percent conducting air
assault, transport, medical evacuation and support operations.

There are more than 450 Chinooks in operation with military forces in 17
countries around the world. International operators include Japan, United
Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Greece, Korea
and Spain.

Source: Boeing