How come the U.S. Army is in love with the CH-47 Chinook, but the Marine Corps and the Navy won't touch it with a ten foot pole?

 If you talk to the pilots that fly the ( )H-47, you will get your answer. They love it because it's very powerful and very fast. It can carry a platoon of fully armed and equipped men, when the Blackhawk can only carry something like 12 soldiers in the same gear. So you can fly one helicopter into an LZ, or four. It's alright if you are in number 1, but those in 2, 3 and 4, have lost any surprise they might of had, and if the LZ can only accommodate one landing at a time, the others have to wait until the first one clears off.

Getting in and out as quickly as possible, is always better. But the risk is, the 47 makes a very tempting target for guys with RPG's, as we unfortunately found out in Afghanistan. One hit can take out the entire crew and members of the assault force.

I love the CH-53E, but that airframe has been plagued with problems and mechanical failures that led to crashes. And since most are Navy aircraft, they crashed at sea. You don't really hear much about 47 failures, at least I haven't. I am somewhat of a rotorhead, making me just knowledgeable enough to be stupid and dangerous. Just because I haven't read about 47 failures, doesn't mean they don't happen. But I have read plenty about the 53's, and it's downright frightening.

Also, probably the biggest consideration is not the actual size, but the footprint of the helicopters. If you look at the CH-53E, MH-53E and Navy versions of the Blackhawk, they all have a few things in common. Folding rotors and importantly, folding tails. This allows for a much smaller footprint on deck and below deck.

Here is the CH-53K in stowed position. Notice the landing gear location.

The CH-53E tail fold up close

Then you have an Army UH-60. Notice the tail wheel, nearly at the end of the tail boom.

Then look at the Navy version. It not only has the important tail fold, but the rear wheel is moved drastically forward, allowing it a much smaller footprint.

Even with the long overhang rear section, the Navy can literally let that hang over the side of the carrier, creating even more space.

It's this ability to fold rotors and tail sections, with a tricycle landing gear as close together as possible, for the smallest footprint possible.

Even if you could fold the rotors of the CH-47 quickly, you just can't reduce the footprint of the tandem rotor helicopter.