Given that the first RAF Chinooks date back to c. 1980 (pre Falklands War) and that they are now 30 plus years old it is hardly surprising that we have decided to buy some replacements. They have, after all, seen active service in all of our recent wars, and lest we forget, include places such as:-
Northern Ireland
Falkland Islands
Balkans - Bosnia, etc.
Beruit
Sierra Leone
Iraq - twice!
Afganistan
and this excludes the odd "excursion" to places such as Morocco, Pakistan, Norway or deployments on* an LPH. Not a bad record IMHO.
What surprises me is that they keep going with the high reliability they show, when many of their FW equivalents are totally clapped and sha**ed.
It's hard to see how we could do anything useful without them in the inventory.
MB
* note I said "on", not "in" an LPH. Maybe on the new ones we'll get folding rotors in which case this could change!