New stealth helicopter apparently part of Bin Laden raid

[onemeangixxer7502]

I'm sure some sort of EMP device that doesn't effect their equipment. I mean its the military. They have all sorts of cool shit

[roliath]

How was that guy liveblogging the raid then?

[John -- '02 HAWK]

just talking aloud

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread60780/pg1

http://rj3sp.blogspot.com/2008/12/boeing-a160-unmanned-helicopter.html

there were reportedly 79 people on the raid. A typ blackhawk holds around 14 people (+2 pilots +2 gunners) which would mean there were at least 4 to 5 to get there. If they lost one and gained an additional body that would probably mean they had 5+ blackhawks if that 79 doesnt include the +4 per bird. Thats a lot of birds in the air for a covert op flying in from Afghanistan.

a Pave low can hold 37 and upto 55 certain configs
an Osprey can hold from 24 to 32

79 people -> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/wo...t/05seals.html

with the assumption that this 79 includes support staff with the "2 dozen inside the compound" statement. I believe the seals operate in groups of 9 that would put 27 inside the compound and the need for 3 birds, so with a bird down that would put 5 extras on each bird for a total of 14 bods per bird

[onemeangixxer7502]

That first heli is cool,fenestron tail and all. I bet that could be a bitch to hover with heavy cross wind. I've not flown any birds with that design but I've been told that the tail rotor isn't as effective as other designs.

[Nash B.]

[Baba Ganoush]

Airwolf lol!

Our government uses top secret shit to do cool shit,
then leaves a burnt piece of said secret cool shit behind,
Just to rub it in our enemies faces?
Kickass.

We have all the cool toys, just give us a reason to use them.

[onemeangixxer7502]

Airwolf lol!

Our government uses top secret shit to do cool shit,
then leaves a burnt piece of said secret cool shit behind,
Just to rub it in our enemies faces?
Kickass.

We have all the cool toys, just give us a reason to use them.

I just find it rather odd that they got it in there, and then put more passengers in other birds that made it off the ground even heavier but this one can't?
I still fairly skeptical of the whole ordeal anyways, my tin foil hat makes me that way.

[GhostTX]

Wired has a good read on it:

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/aviation-geeks-scramble-to-i-d-osama-raids-mystery-copter/

...
A story by ace reporter Sean Naylor in Army Times, published just minutes after the initial version of this post, supports this conclusion. Naylor quotes a retired Special Forces aviator saying the special Blackhawk, modified by Lockheed Martin, has “hard edges, sort of like an … F-117″ stealth fighter from the same company.

According to a source who spoke to our own Spencer Ackerman, the modifications might have taken place with the help of a mysterious Army organization called the “Technology Applications Program Office,” located at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The rumored nickname? Airwolf. That’s right, like the cheesy ‘80 TV show.
...

[Broncojohnny]

I just find it rather odd that they got it in there, and then put more passengers in other birds that made it off the ground even heavier but this one can't?
I still fairly skeptical of the whole ordeal anyways, my tin foil hat makes me that way.

Well, they were there for 40 minutes, is it possible that they had another chopper in the air and ready to come in if there was trouble? I have no idea how long the flight took to get there.

Also, has anyone thought that this could be a plant by the US government. I mean if you really want to put on your tinfoil hat then you might be able to say they blew the chopper up on purpose knowing full well that the Chinese were going to get what they left there. Interesting idea to ponder I guess.

[Blackout]

This might help some. it was kinda on its side so i just rotated it.

[Taylor]

I just find it rather odd that they got it in there, and then put more passengers in other birds that made it off the ground even heavier but this one can't?
I still fairly skeptical of the whole ordeal anyways, my tin foil hat makes me that way.

Did you not watch the video? It said the one they blew up hit one of the walls on it's way in, rendering it inoperable.

[clevelandkid]

Did you not watch the video? It said the one they blew up hit one of the walls on it's way in, rendering it inoperable.

But it wasn't a crash... it was just a hard landing.

[helosailor]

Wired has a good read on it:

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2011/05/mh-x3-660x410.jpg

I believe we have a winner! TAPO has always been at the forefront of secret-squirrel aviation stuff, on the government side.
That pic looks very plausible. Like I said, modified to the point of being unrecognizable.

[blue5spd]

"one of the two Blackhawk helicopters that carried the SEALs into bin Laden's Pakistani compound grazed one of the compound's wall and was forced to make a hard landing."

[BP]

What is even cooler - they said when they landed power and cell phones shut down, ECMs for cell phones but how did they kill the power I wonder?

They were having power outages all week in the area running up to the assault. If the Paki's did indeed help, that might have been their contribution. It's easy to get inside help at a power plant or as a linesman.

The blogger was at an internet cafe at some point, guessing they had generators or batterys.