Germany to Buy 60 Chinook Helicopters for Over $8 Billion
Germany will buy 60 Chinook helicopters from Boeing (BA.N) in a package that will cost up to 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion), including necessary infrastructure for the aircraft, two members of the parliamentary budget committee told Reuters on Wednesday.
They said the committee had taken the decision to go ahead.
The sum includes the procurement of the CH-47 heavy-lift helicopters for 6.27 billion euros, 700 million euros for service, 240 million euros for national contracts and 750 million euros for infrastructure, according to earlier information.
Germany said it planned to buy 60 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters from Boeing last year to replace its ageing CH-53 fleet. Originally, 6 billion euros had been budgeted.
Forty-seven of the helicopters will be based in the town of Holzdorf, some 50 kms (31 miles) south of Berlin, a military source said, adding that the first of several Arrow-3 missile defence units Germany aims to purchase will also be deployed there.
Built to intercept long-range missiles, the Arrow-3 system will be able to protect large parts of Germany and Poland from Holzdorf, according to the source who said the town would be one of three locations where Arrow-3 will be based in Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shifted policy in February 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, sharply increasing defence spending and committing 100 billion euros for the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces.
“With the procurement of 60 heavy transport helicopters for 7.2 billion euros, we are launching one of the most important procurement projects of the Bundeswehr special fund,” Greens committee member Sebastian Schaefer told Reuters.
($1 = 0.9173 euros)
Reporting by Holger Hansen and Sabine Siebold, Editing by Friederike Heine and Emelia Sithole-Matarise