Boeing’s helicopter division has reason to celebrate this week.
The Defense Department awarded the company and a partner two contracts worth a total of $10.5 billion for rotary-winged aircraft.
One contract is for 177 CH-47F Chinook twin-rotor helicopters. The other is for 99 V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft that Boeing produces jointly with Bell Helicopter.
The CH-47F is the latest version of the classic Boeing twin-rotor aircraft used by military units throughout the world. The helicopter will be built in Boeing’s Ridley, Pa. plant.
The Osprey is an aircraft whose engines are mounted on the wingtips. Those engines drive large propellers …