Dalby business develops new product for adfs chinook helicopters

Dalby business develops new product for the ADF's Chinook helicopters

Downs Sheet Metal, a Dalby based company engaged with Defence Industries Queensland (DIQld), has developed a customised storage container for the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) CH-47F Chinook helicopters that is the first of its kind.

Since 2014, Downs Sheet Metal has attended DIQld's capability workshops as well as being an industry partner on DIQld's trade stand at Land Forces 2014 and 2016 – the largest land defence exhibition in the Australian and Indo Pacific regions.

In customising standard US military containers, Downs Sheet Metal worked with the ADF's Cargo Helicopter Management Unit (CHMU) to enable the Chinook's ballistic protection panels to be stored and transported securely, in order to avoid damage.

Director of Downs Sheet Metal, Mr Michael Pearson, recently presented the first two specially modified ISU-60 containers to the CHMU. Another five will be manufactured to complete the ADF's order.

Twelve months in the making, the new containers address the challenge of transporting a Chinook's ballistic protection panels safely and efficiently. They are a solution unique to the Australian Army and are believed to be the only ones of their kind world-wide. The containers are approved for the majority of land, sea and air vehicles.