UK to purchase 22 Chinooks and a C-17

In an effort to provide more airlift capability for its soldiers, Britain has agreed to purchase 22 Chinook heavy-lift transport helicopters and one C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft from Boeing.  This year alone, one hundred British soldiers performing operations in Afghanistan have been killed due to attacks by roadside bombs, and the British government has been blamed for not having provided enough helicopters to transport its soldiers; the helicopters would help negate the threat posed by these roadside bombs.  The British Royal Air Force expects to have the first of the new Chinooks in operation around 2013, bringing its total fleet to 70 Chinooks.  The addition of the C-17 order (expected to be delivered in December 2010) would bring its total fleet to seven C-17 aircraft.

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