The Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight (also known as the Boeing-Vertol 107) was an American heavy transport helicopter of the Cold War and modern era. The prototype flight took place in 1958, and serial production began in 1962. During this time, more than 520 helicopters of this type were built. The drive in the CH-46E version was provided by two General Electric T58-GE-16 engines with a capacity of 1,870 hp. each one The maximum take-off weight was about 11,000 kg. The Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight was created as a "bottom-up" initiative of the Boeing concern to test the possibility of building a heavy transport helicopter in a tandem configuration (also known as a longitudinal twin-screw system). Initially, the US Army was interested in the machine, but as a result, the main recipient of the CH-46 was the US Navy and the Marine Corps. In the course of serial production, several variants of the development of this helicopter were created, including: CH-46A (the basic variant intended for the US Marine Corps), UH-46A Sea Knight (variant for the US Navy), CH-46D (variant with improved engines ) ) or RH-46E (naval minesweeper version). It is worth noting that Kawasaki plants in Japan have also started license production of this machine. Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters participated in numerous armed conflicts, including the Vietnam War (1964/1965-1975) or the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
