Northern Ireland Aviation Enthusiast's Forum
Military Aviation => Modern Military Aircraft => Topic started by: casper on May 06, 2011, 09:09:00 AM
-
The US forces who raided the safehouse of Osama Bin Laden appear to have caught him completely by surprise - and to have avoided detection by Pakistani radar. How did they do it?
One answer, experts believe, is that the special operations team used previously unseen stealth helicopters.
More Info (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13297846)
And how was it made stealthy? The BBC have made it so simple
Silver finish makes it harder to detect on radar and by infrared sensors
So there you have it - paint yourself silver and become invisible (to radar). IF only it were that simple. ::) ::)
-
I have read quite a lot about this,and it looks as if it may have been either heavily modified Blackhawks or indeed the previously cancelled Commanche Helicopter reinstated for this special task.
Noise suppression seems to have been the main thing,but some reports suggest a Chinnook was used,and the chance of not hearing that would be virtually nil.
The location of a Pakistan Army base nearby almost certainly helped to achieve the element of surprise,as I would expect heli`s would be operating out of the army camp,thus Heli noise wouldn`t be that unusual.
-
or indeed the previously cancelled Commanche Helicopter reinstated for this special task.
I don't think it has been a Commanche unless it has been heavily modified as well - the tail on display has rotors wereas the Commanche has an enclosed tail.
-
To be honest I doubt it was a Commanche either,modified or not it`s very unlikely it would have been used as the project was shelved in 2004.
The Apache would be the most likely gunship to use,if indeed gunships were used.
The crashed aircraft is almost certainly a modified Blackhawk,which is the backbone of US Military services and comes in many different versions,and it`s no surprise to me that one for use by Special Forces has been developed.
It did strike me as odd that such a large section was left of the tail,maybe we were meant to see it. :-\
It is embarrassing for the Pakistan Government that the aircraft weren`t picked up on radar,but the fact is the heli`s almost certainly flew low and hid themselves in the mountainous terrain.
The BBC seem to think that all is required is a tin of silver paint! Top notch investigative reporting from the BBC again ;D
-
This is actually quite interesting. Seems the helicopter was a Blackhawk heavily modified. Pretty interesting stuff, I'm amazed they managed to keep the thing secret for so long.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&newspaperUserId=27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3a275902dd-e7a2-40fd-ab78-d46e3bf922b1&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest (http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&newspaperUserId=27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3a275902dd-e7a2-40fd-ab78-d46e3bf922b1&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest)
(http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=155135&d=1304520018)
Dave