MELBOURNE, Australia \u2014 The first Boeing CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopter for Singapore\u2019s Air Force is undergoing flight tests in the United States, with registration data showing that the Southeast Asian nation has 16 of the helicopters on order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Images have appeared of a CH-47F bearing Republic of Singapore Air Force markings at Wilmington International Airport in Delaware. The helicopter flew from the nearby Boeing Chinook production facility in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The helicopter, carrying the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration civil registration N271GG, was one of 16 CH-47Fs added to the FAA\u2019s registry by Boeing in February and is usually a precursor for newly built aircraft to fly in U.S. airspace for flight and other testing. The helicopters added to the registry were assigned registrations in sequential order, beginning with N271GG and ending with N286GG. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is unclear if all 16 of the CH-47Fs are destined for Singapore, although that was the number an industry source had given Defense News when asked in 2019 about the number of Chinooks Singapore was acquiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Singapore had announced in November 2016 that it was acquiring an unspecified number of CH-47Fs under a Direct Commercial Sales contract with Boeing to replace the Air Force\u2019s fleet of older Chinooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Military platforms appearing on the FAA registry is usually a sign that the aircraft are destined for a DCS customer, as opposed to aircraft sold through the government-to-government Foreign Military Sales process, which would then receive U.S. military registrations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boeing previously declined to comment when Defense News asked if the helicopters on the FAA registry were on a DCS contract. Singapore is the only known customer for the CH-47F with outstanding aircraft. India recently became a Chinook DCS customer, but its 15 helicopters have been on the FAA\u2019s registry since 2018, and deliveries were completed earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\t