SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top aircraft producer Boeing Company has been given a 160-million-U.S.-dollar contract to overhaul the Chinook rotor blade for U.S. Army, Boeing said Monday.
The American aerospace giant said it will continue its support for the U.S. Army's inventory of more than 450 H-47 Chinook rotor blades across the globe with the new contract from the Army.
The contract will extend a five-year performance-based logistics agreement that Boeing signed with the Army in 2012, which will facilitate Boeing's continued management of stock availability and the overhauling of all of the Army's Chinook aircraft.
Boeing is responsible for rotor blade maintenance, repair and overhaul of the twin-engined, tandem rotor H-47 transport airplane, which is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters.
"The Chinook has proved itself to be critical to the U.S. Army's wide range of missions, and supply availability is critical to the Chinook's operational readiness," said Kathleen Jolivette, director of U.S. Army Services for Boeing Global Services.
Boeing will develop innovative ways to save blades of the helicopters that would typically be removed from service, and pledged to continue its partnership with the U.S. Army in cutting their ownership costs and extending blade life of the Chinooks.
Boeing manages the rotor blade support work at its Philadelphia site in the state of Pennsylvania.
