Liam Fox says contract to expand Chinook fleet to 60 shows government is bringing 'reality' to the defence budget
The Ministry of Defence is to buy 14 Chinook transport helicopters at a cost of �1bn, the defence secretary has announced.
The contract, which will increase the number of Chinooks operated by the RAF to 60, will also include development and support costs for five years.
In a speech at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, where the British Chinook fleet is based, Liam Fox said the deal showed that the government was bringing "reality" to the defence budget, enabling it to provide real equipment.
In last October's defence review the number of Chinooks the government planned to order was reduced to 12, half the number proposed in 2009.
"We have brought reality to the defence budget and can start signing contracts that will deliver real equipment," Fox said.
The coalition has cut the defence budget by 8% as part of the attempt to slash the deficit, but Fox attacked the previous administration.
He said: "The previous government promised more Chinooks, but never ordered them and never had the money for them.
"It was just an aspiration. These additional helicopters will significantly enhance our existing heavy lift helicopter capability. This fleet will support our frontline troops in current and future operations for decades to come."
There have been persistent complaints by the RAF of shortages of helicopters and spare parts during the Afghanistan operation. Three years ago it was reported that only 17 were fit for active service of the-then fleet of 40 .
The deal means that the RAF will continue to have the largest Chinook fleet in Europe.
The heavy duty helicopters, used in Afghanistan for transporting troops and equipment, are manufactured by the US company Boeing.
The first of the new batch of helicopters, which can carry up to 40 people or 10 tonnes of cargo, should be ready to enter service in 2014, with the full complement coming on stream two years later. That means they are unlikely to play any part in operations in Afghanistan.
They have proved their worth in military conflicts over many years, from the Vietnam war onwards ? the helicopters were first developed in the early 1960s. But they have also been involved in a number of disasters, including an incident in Afghanistan earlier this month when one containing 30 US troops was apparently brought down by ground fire.
The RAF has used its Chinook fleet in all overseas conflicts since the 1970s, including the Falklands, Bosnia and Iraq as well as in Northern Ireland.
Two were lost two years ago in Afghanistan, one of them being shot down by the Taliban.
A Chinook was also at the centre of one of Britain's greatest security disasters in modern times when a helicopter carrying high-ranking security and intelligence officers from Northern Ireland to a conference in Scotland crashed on the Mull of Kintyre in June 1994.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/aug/22/raf-new-chinook-helicopters
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