Air Power 2017

21 ST CENTURY PARTNERSHIPS AIR POWER 2017 109

21 ST CENTURY CAPABILITIES

The RAF Boeing

Chinook Mk4s will all

be upgraded into the

Mk6 configuration

within two years

(PHOTO: IAN FORSHAW/

© CROWN COPYRIGHT)

A Chinook Helicopter

of 18 Squadron

prepares to

embark troops for

a move across the

Hohenfels training

area in Germany

(PHOTO: CORPORAL

ANDY REDDY RLC/

© CROWN COPYRIGHT)

support the diverse numbers of deployed locations
that we currently undertake, as we now routinely
deploy and support aircraft in at least six locations.”

INCREASED FLEET AVAILABILITY
The TLCS programme provides depth maintenance,
engineering technical support, supply chain
management (including forecasting and procurement),
aircraft and component repairs, modification services
and publications management for the UK’s fleet of 60
Mk4/5/6 Chinook helicopters. In cooperation with the
MOD, this has helped to increase the availability of
the fleet, while simultaneously incorporating numerous
fleet-wide capability upgrades and aircraft repairs.
This close industrial partnership was expanded as
the result of the MOD’s recent Whole Force Approach
(WFA) concept, which now encompasses a wider
engagement with industry across the board, with the
Chinook TLCS programme being one part of a larger
industrial partnership to deliver operational capability
to the front line. “The Whole Force Approach for us
encompasses not just contractors, but also our personnel,
including Reservists and civil servants, as well as our
regular service personnel,” says Group Captain Robinson.
“It’s not a new concept for the RAF. If you look
back at what we were doing in World War II, we

had a very close relationship between the RAF and
British industry, and we are embracing that now.
We are always looking for best practice, and we can
learn from Boeing and Boeing can learn from us, so
we can both continue to drive forward and achieve
more capability, but also more efficiency as well.”
Over the past decade, the RAF Chinook Force
has been modernised with new avionics and cockpits
for their existing fleet of 46 Chinook Mk4/Mk5s, plus
14 new-build Chinook Mk6s. This included a fleet-
wide upgrade to introduce a Digital Automatic Flight
Control System (DAFCS), together with a Traffic Collision
Avoidance System (TCAS), which has helped increase
operational capabilities and reduce crew workload.
“Modifications will continue so that our current fleet
of Chinook Mk4s will be upgraded to become Chinook
Mk6As,” explains Group Captain Robinson. “All this has
been done in close partnership with Boeing. These
aircraft upgrades will deliver to UK Defence 60 state-of-
the-art digital aircraft by the end of next year. This will
allow us to deliver more operational capability in almost

all conditions. We can operate the aircraft better from

ships or in very low light levels or areas of degraded

visual environments, like heavy sand or heavy snow.”

SUPPORTING MULTIROLE OPERATIONS

As UK Armed Forces continue to transition and

reorganise from counter-insurgency (COIN) to rapid-

reaction global contingency operations, the RAF

Chinook Force is pivotal in providing the lift to support

these multirole operations on land and at sea, as

part of the UK’s Joint Force 2025 concept. This will

be particularly significant for the UK’s Carrier Enabled

Power Projection vision when the new warships enter

service later this decade. “We provide the lift for UK

defence, both ashore and embarked, including future

operations from the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth-

class (QEC) aircraft carriers – HM Ships Queen Elizabeth

and Prince of Wales. There are very few lift tasks we

can’t undertake, and we train regularly alongside the

British Army and Royal Marines to operate globally

in a wide range of operational environments.”

“There are very

few lift tasks we

can’t undertake”