Netherlands Chinooks destined for aerial firefighting in the US

Netherlands State Secretary of Defence Christophe van der Maat has notified the Dutch Parliament of the possible sale and a Netherlands Ministry of Defence statement was released on 15 March.

Billings is well known as the first commercial owner and operators of CH-47 Chinook helicopters after they were granted a restricted type certificate for Chinook CH-47D helicopters by the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2014.

The company specialises in aerial construction, power transmission line construction, aerial firefighting, equipment transportation, geo-seismic exploration, and passenger air charter.

Chinook helicopters fitted with CH-47D aerial firefighting tanks are capable of holding 2,500 gallons of water, have a fill rate of 4,000 gallons per minute, and a full load release of three seconds, according to Billings.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force retired its CH-47D Chinook helicopters in 22 December after more than 25 years of service since 1995. They are replaced by modern Boeing CH-47F Chinook aircraft, built in 2016.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.