Germany will buy 60 CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters from Boeing worth around 5 billion euros ($5.40 billion)as it upgrades its military armour, Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday, citing government sources.
The helicopters will be financed from the 100 billion euros planned special fund for the military which Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the paper said.
The helicopters could be delivered in 2025/26 at the earliest and would replace the roughly 50-year-old CH-53G helicopters made by the Sikorsky unit of U.S. arms makers Lockheed Martin, it said.
Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht will inform the parliament of the decision next week, the newspaper said.
Competitors for the deal included Lockheed Martin's CH-53K King Stallion. But the cheaper Boeing model and the fact that many NATO allies also fly the Chinook were the reasons for deciding on the CH-47F, Bild said.
A spokesperson for the Defence Ministry said no decision on helicopter purchases has been made yet.
($1 = 0.9264 euros)
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Leslie Adler)
