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tralian-administered Territory of Papua and New Guinea. The Government believed that both types met the RAAF's requirements, but a project to acquire Chinooks would be lower risk than purchasing CH-53s. As a result, an order for twelve CH-47C Chinooks was announced on 19 August 1970. It was planned to rotate the helicopters in and out of service, six being available at any time. The order was suspended later in 1970 when a series of engine problems affected the United States Army's CH-47Cs, but was reinstated in March 1972 after these issues were resolved. The total cost of the purchase was $A37 million. The order made Australia the CH-47's first export customer. The contract for the Chinooks included an offset agreement with Boeing through which the firm gave Australian companies opportunities to manufacture components of both the RAAF's helicopters and those destined for other customers. This was the first of several such agreements that were included in Australian military aircraft procurement contracts during the 1970s and 1980s, the goal being to assist the local defence industry to access international markets. This agreement had some benefits, as several of the participating Australian companies upgraded their factories to manufacture complex elements of the CH-47. The offset contracts for the Chinook concluded in the early 1980s, but the improved equipment and manufacturing processes were employed in the project to build McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft in Australia between 1985 and 1990. In line with the RAAF's procurement and support philosophy and the aim of ensuring that the force was self-sufficient, a very large quantity of spare parts for the CH-47Cs was also ordered; in 1993 it was reported that this was the second-largest stockpile of Chinook spare parts after that held by Boeing, and was worth more than $A120 million. It was decided to station the Chinooks at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, as it was located at the midpoint between the Army's main field formations that were based on the outskirts of Sydney in New South Wales and the north Queensland city of Townsville. Construction began on support facilities for the helicopters at Amberley shortly after the order for them was confirmed in 197