macmax Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Washington: The elite US Navy SEALs team used top secret, never-seen-before stealth helicopters to swoop down on an unsuspecting Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in his Abbottabad safe haven and shoot him dead. One of the secret choppers was disabled during the raid by the SEALs, blowing it up in an apparent bid to ensure that the frontline technology did not fall into non-US hands, US media reports said. Pentagon officials are still keeping mum on whether or not stealth choppers were used, but ABC news citing American aviators said that photos of what survived the explosion has sent military analysts buzzing about a stealth helicopter programme that was only rumoured to exist. NDTV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllMac Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Yes...and part of it is on its way to China. Apparently this news didn't make some US officials happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V9s Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Yes...and part of it is on its way to China. Apparently this news didn't make some US officials happy. It's being returned to the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frylock86 Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Last I heard, it's still in Pakistani hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdsams Veteran Posted May 5, 2011 Veteran Share Posted May 5, 2011 I am sure what is left of the copter is relatively minor to what actually makes it stealthy. Seals are not dumb, nor were the people planning this mission. I am sure they had a fail-safe in palce that if one went down..place explosives on X points to destroy all valuable parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frylock86 Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Except the tail assembly went out of the compound was wasn't destroyed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo003 Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Is it really a good thing that it's been shot down in its first mission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexalex Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Yes...and part of it is on its way to China. Apparently this news didn't make some US officials happy. To Chine and North Korea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryoken Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I am sure what is left of the copter is relatively minor to what actually makes it stealthy. Seals are not dumb, nor were the people planning this mission. I am sure they had a fail-safe in palce that if one went down..place explosives on X points to destroy all valuable parts. All that really survived was the tail rotor... From the images of the rest is looks like they used explosives ( probably something like wite phosphorus, that burns through metals ) to turn the rest in the little more than a pile or twisted metal.. Though I'm a little surprised in a mission like this why they didn't have a Chinook, or another heavy lift chopper that could just fly the disabled bird back to base (though maybe that would have been too much for one to carry... still seems like it would be a good idea in the long run to build a chopper that could lol ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acnpt Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Though I'm a little surprised in a mission like this why they didn't have a Chinook, or another heavy lift chopper I'd guess a Chinook or heavy lift chopper going along kind of defeats the purpose of a stealth chopper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V9s Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I am sure what is left of the copter is relatively minor to what actually makes it stealthy. Not sure about that... stealth coatings are a major part of what makes an aircraft stealthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macrosslover Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Is it really a good thing that it's been shot down in its first mission. Nobody knows if this is its first mission. The belief is that this chopper has been used for years. The helicopter in question wasn't shot down, it had a mechanical failure and had a hard landing and then they destroyed it on the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Most likely a variant of the supposedly cancelled MH-X Advanced Special Operations Helicopter. Best guess circulating the aviation blogs....larger than BlackHawk, low-noise/low-observable blades, angular features like F-117 with updated coatings etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singh400 Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Pics of the downed tail looks suspiciously like that. I'm not a big enough aero geek to go investigating more, but it's all very cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japlabot Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Probably had a malfunction on landing because it is new/prototype, and still has issues. The operation was a success though despite the huge explosion in the courtyard when the SEALs managed to blow (most of) it up. I'm sure the US would have given up a whole fleet of them to be able to kill Osama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xendrome Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Is it really a good thing that it's been shot down in its first mission. I'm sure these have been used for years now.. and it wasn't shot down. Apparently the reports are that when it landed inside the compound, because of the high walls when it attempted to take back off, there was not enough area for the helicopter to create enough down force to get enough lift to get off the ground. Probably had a malfunction on landing because it is new/prototype, and still has issues. It's not a prototype, it's based on the Blackhawk, they have been used for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted May 5, 2011 Member Share Posted May 5, 2011 I bet the military has a bunch of secret stuff (and probably has had for years) that we can only dream about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V9s Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I bet the military has a bunch of secret stuff (and probably has had for years) that we can only dream about. Yeap. The US military and Intelligence has a huge black budget for stuff like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episode Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 It's not a prototype, it's based on the Blackhawk, they have been used for years. Its not a BH. I have a friend that actually works at Sikorsky, and he says they have never built a BH that looks like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILikeTobacco Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Its not a BH. I have a friend that actually works at Sikorsky, and he says they have never built a BH that looks like that. considering it is a top secret craft, if you friend had built a BH that looks like that, he wouldn't be able to tell you anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted May 5, 2011 Member Share Posted May 5, 2011 One thing about it, it's not a secret any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted May 5, 2011 Veteran Share Posted May 5, 2011 I am sure what is left of the copter is relatively minor to what actually makes it stealthy. Seals are not dumb, nor were the people planning this mission. I am sure they had a fail-safe in palce that if one went down..place explosives on X points to destroy all valuable parts. yeah they did blow it up after it crashed to destroy it I bet the military has a bunch of secret stuff (and probably has had for years) that we can only dream about. they've always said the military is 20yrs ahead of what we see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Is it really a good thing that it's been shot down in its first mission. It wasn't shot down, the tail hit the wall during landing and the helo couldn't take off again, so they blew it up. as for first mission, I believe there was a statement from some US governemtn that said they didn't want to comment on the helicopter but it had been on numerous successful missions before. The only reason we even know it exist is because the tail survived. So if it hadn't crashed, you wouldn't have known it existed (if it does). So just because one crashed now isn't enough to claim it was the first mission, which it most likely wasn't, you don't send unproven equipment on a job like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted May 5, 2011 Veteran Share Posted May 5, 2011 Is it really a good thing that it's been shot down in its first mission. it wasn't shot down, it had a hard landing, apparently it was overheating due to the conditions that night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Not sure about that... stealth coatings are a major part of what makes an aircraft stealthy. for helicopters there are other things that are far more important, mainly the rotors. since rotors by their very design are anti stealthy. considering it is a top secret craft, if you friend had built a BH that looks like that, he wouldn't be able to tell you anyway. More imrpotantly it might not even have been built there, since it supposedly based on the Blackhawk, the few models in use may be built at specialized secret labs using Black Hawk chassi. Afterall you don't build top secret stuff where you build your regulr run of the mill military gear :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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