 After protracted negotiations to allow them to enter service , Air Forces Monthly reported in November 2006 that the Defence Aviation Repair Agency would likely receive a contract to install the Thales " TopDeck " avionics system on the Chinook HC Mk3s . However , the Ministry of Defence announced in March 2007 that this so @-@ called " Fix to Field " programme would be cancelled , and instead it would revert the helicopters ' avionics to Chinook Mk2 / 2A specification . The programme was estimated to cost £ 50 – 60 million . In June 2008 , the National Audit Office issued a scathing report on the MoD 's handling of the affair , stating that the whole programme was likely to cost £ 500 million by the time the helicopters enter service . On 6 July 2009 the first of the eight modified Chinook HC Mk3s made its first test flight at MoD Boscombe Down as part of the flight testing and evaluation phase of the HC Mk3 " reversion " program . 
