The sale, approved by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Nov. 7, is the 10th Foreign Military Sale request by the UAE since 2017, and could add $830.3 million to the approximately $10.5 billion in military equipment the UAE has already bought from the U.S. since 2017.
UAE previously purchased 16 CH-47E helicopters in 2009 for about $2 billion.
Sale of the helicopters, manufactured by Boeing Co., still requires approval of the U.S. Congress. Dollar figures and quantities may also change during negotiations, the agency said.
The potential sale is good news for Boeing. Earlier this year, the company acknowledged a reliance on foreign military sales since the U.S. Army is not intending to purchase the Block II version of the CH-47H aircraft for its active force, although some versions of the aircraft have been ordered for special operations. Those helicopters will be ready for purchase by allied countries in 2021, after qualification testing is done.
The tandem-rotor, heavy-lift helicopter service has been in service, in several variants, since 1962.
The proposed contract with UAE includes the helicopters, 26 T55-GA-714A engines, 24 embedded global positioning systems with inertial navigation system, 20 M134D-H mini-guns; and 20 M240H machine guns, in addition to "aircraft survivability equipment" which includes transmitters and other communications and electrical equipment.
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