India seeks details on Chinook helicopters
INDIA on Wednesday (31) sought details over the grounding of the entire fleet of the US Army's Chinook CH-47 helicopters over the danger of engine fires.
Officials of the Indian government said the Chinook helicopters in the US Army were still in operation and New Delhi wanted to know the details about the reason for which the entire fleet was grounded in the US.
The South Asian power has around 15 Chinook CH-47 helicopters, sources in the government said.
Over the last few years, these helicopters have become one of the Indian Army's major military hardware for conducting airlift missions in places such as Ladakh and Siachen to assist troops deployed in those locations.
The Chinook helicopters were acquired from the US in 2015 under a deal worth million and inducted into service in 2019, Boeing carried out the delivery of the helicopters which was completed in 2020.
The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, said Washington took such an extreme step out of caution.
‘One of the officials said the fires occurred in recent days', the Journal said.