Another Stealth Chopper in the Osama Raid?

[n2doc]

By David Axe May 20, 2011 | 10:31 am | Categories: Spies, Secrecy and Surveillance


By now we know that the two helicopters that deposited the 23 U.S. operatives (and their dog) into Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2 were no standard-issue Army rotorcraft. Rather, they were stealth modifications of the MH-60 Blackhawk, optimized to reduce their noise, infrared and radar signatures.

But there’s a growing belief that other stealthy choppers might have been present, as well. It’s the latest in a series of revelations regarding the sophisticated tactics and techs behind the high-stakes raid.

We know about the pair of radar-evading Blackhawks because one of the elusive birds — dubbed “Silenthawks” by the media — crashed inside the bin Laden compound, leaving behind an intact tail rotor that photographers documented the following morning and aviation geeks used to infer the aircraft’s overall configuration.

That crash, plus the dicey politics surrounding the CIA-led assault, offer up circumstantial evidence of an even more secretive “silent” helicopter: a possible variant of the twin-rotor MH-47 Chinook, sporting the same stealth treatments as the Silenthawk and operated by the same 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.


As he did with the Silenthawk, aviation journalist David Cenciotti commissioned artist Ugo Crisponi to produce concept art depicting this alleged copter. (See artwork, above.)


more

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/another-stealth-chopper-in-the-osama-raid/

[Poll_Blind]

1. Everyone! To the KRULL-COPTER!

This post meets or exceeds DU's quota of Krull jokes for the calendar year 2011.

PB

[sharp_stick]

3. That's what it was!

Thanks I was staring at that rotor thinking "that damned thing looks familiar".

Now I can sleep tonight :-)

[formercia]

2. Grim Reaper

Sometimes it takes more than just having Balls.

[Myrina]

4. They were Area 51 UFO-copters.

POTUS and Will Smith were flying them. :silly:

[TimLighter]

5. All the speculation about "stealth" or "silent" helo's is all fine

and good except for one thing, somebody was "live tweeting" the attack.

https://twitter.com/#!/ReallyVirtual

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).
1 May Favorite Retweet Reply

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
Go away helicopter - before I take out my giant swatter :-/
1 May Favorite Retweet Reply

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S
1 May Favorite Retweet Reply


ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
@
@m0hcin all silent after the blast, but a friend heard it 6 km away too... the helicopter is gone too.
1 May Favorite Retweet Reply

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
@
@m0hcin http://bit.ly/ljB6p6 seems like my giant swatter worked !
1 May Favorite Retweet Reply

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
Since taliban (probably) don't have helicpoters, and since they're saying it was not "ours", so must be a complicated situation #abbottabad
1 May Favorite Retweet Reply

[Robb]

6. A much simpler explanation: the first helos weren't modified Blackhawks.

I've been puzzling over the matter of a the UH-60 (Blackhawk) and its carrying capacity, not enough for the original strike team even before whatever weight had to be sacrificed for the stealth add-ons. Plus, it's kind of an Army bird, and SEALs are Navy.

Instead of some kind of Chinook to fill in the story, how about the simpler notion of the SEALs having used a modified version of the same helicopter they use everywhere else -- the MH-53 (Pave Low), two of which would easily hold enough personnel to carry off the mission as originally described?

Someone said "Blackhawks" at the beginning, no one's going to correct the error when you get a free misdirection from the get-go. I looked at a few tail rotors, and the frame in the Pakistan photo (not the rotor housing itself, of course) looks more Pave Low than Blackhawk. :shrug: