Mystery Helicopter Involved in Osama Raid.

[Jay Beckman]

So riddle me this...

If one of the helos was a "Comanche-esque" stealth type, how'd they get 40 guys in there on only two other aircraft?

I thought the Comanche was a two-seater like the Apache?

[Rob Silliman]

I think they mean that it has Stealth attributes of the Commanche, on a Blackhawk base chassis.

[cpasley]

I still wonder why the need to keep it hush-hush I thought america liked showing off its new stealth hardware

[jslugman]

From the Air Force Magazine daily report:

Mystery Blackhawk: US officials described the helicopter that crashed during the takedown of Osama bin Laden on Sunday in Pakistan as a Blackhawk. However, images of the wrecked helicopter's tail section—making Internet rounds on Tuesday—reveal that this aircraft is seemingly unlike any other publicly acknowledged Blackhawk variant. The aircraft's empennage features faceted and presumably stealthy surfaces with no fasteners or apparent seams. Its six-bladed tail rotor is embedded in a saucer-shaped rotorhead—possibly a noise-reduction system. The tailplanes are forward swept. The empennage is not that of the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche stealth scout/attack chopper canceled in 2004, although its features resemble the Comanche's. The Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, based out of Fort Campbell, Ky., has been known to field a number of one-off special helicopter variants, but US officials haven't publicly discussed the unit's role in the bin Laden raid. A Sikorsky spokesman referred the Daily Report's query to US Special Operations Command, a spokesman for which said only the White House was authorized to discuss the bin Laden operation. The White House declined comment.

[Paul Dumm]

It's out.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/top-secret-stealth-helicopter-program-revealed-osama-bin/story?id=13530693

[Chris Kennedy]

Here is somebodies idea of what it looks like.

[Chris Kennedy]

Some of the stories are now starting to say there were two Blackhawks as the main transports and at least one backup Chinook that was called in when one of them was disabled when it hit the wall of the compound. I wonder what a stealth Chinook looks like?

[Joe Copalman]

I've been talking about this with Ty Rogoway quite a bit.  Chances are this mission was launched with considerable support - the stealthy Blackhawks for the infil/exfil, the RQ-170 for UAV support, a few helos (likely MH-47s) holding short of the target area as a QRF/CSAR force in case the brown stuff hit the fan (which it did), and F-22s orbiting inside the Afghan border in case PAF fighters were scrambled to intercept the assault force.  Pretty much an all-stealth force with the exception of the QRF/CSAR guys, who probably used terrain-masking and stayed well clear of the target area to avoid detection.  Also hearing that internet and cell service were interrupted during the raid, but that doesn't explain the "I'm the guy who liveblogged the Bin Laden raid" guy.

[bilwor]

And probably an AWACS controlling the mission??

[cpasley]

Here's another rendition

MH-X by www.AviationGraphic.com, on Flickr

[Joe Copalman]

My hunch is that any door-mounted guns would be kept internal until the assault force closed in on the target so the helo could stay stealthy until the last minute.  The antennae and IRCM turret/disco ball would probably also be configured a bit differently, but I wouldn't doubt that the actual "Stealth Hawk" looks very much like that drawing. 

[Rob Silliman]

Apparently John Kerry - went to Islamabad - and gets to bring home the tail of the crashed helicopter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/sen-john-kerry-arrives-in-pakistan-for-meetings-that-could-sway-future-us-aid-prospects/2011/05/16/AFJJIZ4G_story.html?hpid=z2

Too bad it comes across that we have to buy it back from them;


Kerry, whose name is attached to a major U.S. economic assistance package to Pakistan, said he conveyed to the Pakistanis that they must demonstrate a commitment to fighting Islamist militancy to address the concerns of members of Congress who, after the bin Laden killing, have called for the end to U.S. aid.