Posted on 03/09/2024 4:11:16 AM PST by McGruff
Two U.S. National Guard members and a Border Patrol agent were killed and a fourth person was injured when a helicopter went down near Rio Grande City, Texas, on Friday, officials said.
The UH-72 Lakota helicopter crashed around 2:50 p.m. local time while it was "conducting aviation operations" in the area, according to a statement from the Defense Department’s Joint Task Force North.
The helicopter had been assigned to a support mission at the Southwest border of the U.S., the statement said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
bkmk
Bkm
Have there been any Western aircraft shot down by anti aircraft missile systems diverted from Ukraine or from what we left in Afghanistan when we retreated in haste?
And would be even be told such an embarrassing story it it were possible to be covered up and explained as weather, mechanical failure or pilot error instead? Sad to even think of such things.
God rest their souls and comfort their families.
Very sad. Helicopters are so dangerous.
That one is substandard. The Lakota is restricted from use in combat operations because there are several standards it doesn’t meet. We supply our men with trash and send billions to Ukraine and Hamas.
And why were they even flying the border? It’s wide open anyway.
Those men were wasted.
It is not allowed to leave the Continental United States due to its unsuitability for deployment use. It has been a failure as a trainer as well because it’s too complicated for primary training and it is unable to conduct several normal maneuvers properly including autorotation!
“The UH-72 has also been criticized as unable to teach touchdown auto-rotations, among other maneuvers.“
That crash looks like a failed autorotation.
So whatever happened to all those old Hueys?
They need Apaches
Well... yeah, one could see that...
My Dad qualified in one and never spoke well of them again.
My County uses them in mosquito control, flying 100 feet quadrants overhead while delivering dry larvacide to standing waters.
“The Lakota is restricted from use in combat operations”
Shows what little you know.
The Lakota was NEVER intended to be used in combat. It’s mission is to fill the SAR/MEDEVAC civil support roll of the National Guard.
“In October 2006, American Eurocopter was awarded a production contract for 345 aircraft to replace the aging Bell UH-1H/V Iroquois and Bell OH-58A/C Kiowa helicopters in the US Army and Army National Guard fleets. The UH-72 performs logistics and support missions within the US for homeland security, disaster response missions, and medical evacuations.”
The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) UH-72 Lakota is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor.
The UH-72 is a militarized version of the Eurocopter EC145, built by American Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters, Inc.), a division of Airbus Group, Inc.
Initially marketed as the UH-145, the helicopter was selected as winner of the United States Army's Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) program on 30 June 2006.
In October 2006, American Eurocopter was awarded a production contract for 345 aircraft to replace the aging Bell UH-1H/V Iroquois and Bell OH-58A/C Kiowa helicopters in the US Army and Army National Guard fleets.
The UH-72 performs logistics and support missions within the US for homeland security, disaster response missions, and medical evacuations.
If Biden hadn’t invited the whole third world in via the southern border there wouldn’t have been a need for this dangerous flight. Biden killed these men
Crashed, or was shot down?
And A-10s!
Especially A-10’s!
“..Especially A-10’s!...”
Yep, without a doubt.
IMHO, a few ‘brrrrrrreps” and this border BS would be over with....once and for all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.