MH-47 Chinook (special operations)
The Night Stalkers' long-range Chinook — refuelling probe, terrain-following radar and a huge fuel load · In service from the 1980s · MH-47G Block II 2020
The MH-47 family was developed for the US Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the 'Night Stalkers'. The first MH-47Ds — twelve conversions from CH-47A and C airframes — added an in-flight refuelling probe and fast-rope equipment. In June 1988 two MH-47s of the 160th flew the secret Operation Mount Hope III, recovering an abandoned Libyan Mi-24 from northern Chad as an underslung load.
The MH-47E, 26 of which were converted from CH-47C airframes, was built for clandestine deep-penetration missions in any weather. It added a cabin auxiliary tank and enlarged sponsons for much greater fuel capacity, a fuel-tank inerting system and terrain-following/terrain-avoidance radar.
The MH-47G combined these special-operations features with CH-47F sections and the Common Avionics Architecture System glass cockpit; the D and E fleets were rebuilt to G standard and new-build Gs followed. The MH-47G Block II, with in-flight refuelling, a defensive aids suite, FLIR and terrain-following radar, was first delivered on 1 September 2020.
