Boeing (www.boeing.com) and Sikorsky (www.sikorsky.com) are preparing to battle it out for an expected German order worth (3 billion euros) for heavy-lift helicopters. The Boeing CH-47F and the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion are the main candidates for the much-anticipated German Heavy Transport Helicopter Program. The new aircraft will replace Germany’s ageing fleet of Sikorsky CH-53D Sea Stallions, which have been in service since the late 1960s.

The German Ministry of Defence has yet to formally release details of its requirements, but it is believed to have approached both manufacturers about pricing and is expected to make a request for them to submit their bids in the next 12 months. A decision could be made in 2018, and German defence officials have previously suggested that the first deliveries could be in 2022.

Boeing’s Michael Hostetter said: “The CH-47F represents a low-risk and proven capability.” Meanwhile, analysts said that the Sikorsky CH-53K has the benefit of being ‘a known quantity’, as a result of Germany’s experience with the CH-53. However, its selection would give Germany a three-engine helicopter, with a resulting increase in direct operating costs over the existing twin-engine model.

Mr Hostetter said that Boeing is ready to work with German industry if required to do so, and this could also apply to other Boeing programs. He added that the company has already been exploring the possibility of reserving production slots for Germany in case the CH-47 is selected.

Michael Torok, vice-president for the CH-53K programme at Sikorsky, said he is hopeful that Germany will become this helicopter’s first export customer. The US Marines have agreed to buy 200 CH-53Ks, and Mr Torok said that Sikorsky is hoping to sell as many as 100 more during the planned 11-year production run.

Germany has been discussing how to replace the CH-53D for more than a decade. For several years, Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) worked with Boeing on a concept called the Future Transport Helicopter that would have supplied helicopters to Germany and France, but the project was abandoned due budgetary issues in both countries.