india

Updated: Jul 08, 2019 22:38 IST

US defence firm Boeing on Monday announced the arrival of two more CH-47F (I) Chinooks for the Indian Air Force at the Mundra port in Gujarat, five months after helicopter deliveries began. Boeing delivered the first four of the 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters on order in February.

“The arrival of the two Chinooks is in line with the planned delivery schedule, as well as Boeing’s commitment to ensuring the modernization and mission readiness of the IAF,” the company said in a statement.

The Chinooks, ordered in September 2015, will be assembled and flown to their home base in Chandigarh where the first four choppers were formally inducted in the IAF in March.

The Chinooks will fill a crucial gap in the IAF’s heavy-lift capabilities as it currently operates a solitary Soviet-origin Mi-26 chopper to deliver payloads to high altitudes. In September 2015, the National Democratic Alliance government placed a $3.1-billion order for 22 AH-64E Apache Longbow attack helicopters and 15 Chinooks.