In-Service Evidence
![](http://blogs.windriver.com/photos/headshots/parkinson_lg.jpg)
The UK Ministry of Defence recently announced
that its Chinook helicopter HC3 variants will undergo a £90.1m ($181m)
upgrade. The press release itself is rather brief, but the story in
Flight Global (‘UK signs £90 million deal to fix grounded Chinook helicopters‘)
gives a bit more background. However, to really understand the purpose
of the upgrade, you need to cross-reference information from a number
of sources: Chinook blunder ‘left RAF short’ (BBC News), Wikipedia entry for Chinook HC3, and a UK National Audit Office report (PDF). I’ll leave the political issues well alone, but some of the technical challenges really interest me.
![image: www.eliteukforces.info (public domain) Chinook](http://blogs.windriver.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/21/chinook.jpg)
In brief, the HC3 is based on the US Army’s MH-47E Chinook helicopter, but has been customized for use by the UK RAF 7 Squadron
Special Forces flight. The enhancements include improved range, night
vision sensors and navigation capability. However, in order to fit all
of this additional capability into the cockpit, a unique hybrid
digital/analogue avionics system which was reliant on software was employed.