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A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing six members of the international military force, the U.S.-led coalition said.

In Afghanistan, supply convoys have been a favorite target of insurgent fighters, not only because they make warfighting possible for troops at forward operating bases but also because they are so very vulnerable to ambushes and IEDs. But on Saturday, NATO logisticians hit a major milestone in Afghanistan, reaching out and touching one of the holy grails of robotic warfare when an unmanned K-MAX helicopter successfully delivered a sling-load of beans, bullets, and band-aids to an unspecified base for the first time.

Pakistani officials say NATO forces knew they were opening fire on Pakistani forces, and even apologised to Pakistani officers, throughout the friendly fire incident on a military checkpoint that killed 24 troops near the Afghan border in November. Pakistani officials on Thursday briefed reporters in Washington on their findings, drawn from interviews with survivors and local residents in the remote, mountainous area. Results of NATO's official investigation are due next week. Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, DC, said it could be an attempt by Pakistani officials to shape public opinion before the NATO report is released. “The Pakistanis...

KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistani officials say seven army soldiers were killed when NATO helicopters fired on a checkpoint in the country's northwest near the Afghan border.

An experienced pilot was lucky to escape with his life when his helicopter clipped a wire while erecting a Christmas tree and slammed into Auckland's popular Viaduct wharf. Greg Gribble walked away virtually unscathed after his aircraft spun out of control and crashed on the waterfront promenade during a live-streamed event on Wednesday morning to put up the 26-metre tall Telecom Christmas tree. The helicopter had been hovering just metres from the ground when the blades caught a wire, breaking off the tail and sending the chopper to the ground. Dramatic footage of the incident, carried live on the TVNZ...

Gunship offer hard to refuse for Seoul ÜMİT ENGİNSOY ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News Friday, November 4, 2011 Turkey’s TAI and Italy’s AgustaWestland have a good chance of winning a bid to jointly produce 30 helicopters for South Korea, an official tells the Daily News A team of Turkish and Italian companies is seeking to win a South Korean contract for 30 attack helicopters worth $1 billion with the group’s T-129 gunship, a senior Turkish procurement official said Nov. 2. “South Korea’s competition is a major one for at least 30 gunships and the T-129 has been shortlisted among a...

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Chongqing Helicopter Investment Corporation Limited (CQHIC) have signed a Statement of Intent on Sept 21, 2011 in Beijing to explore potential collaboration in the helicopter field to satisfy the market requirements of China. Both parties plan to set up a joint venture in Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing, and carry out the test-fly of helicopter assembled by this joint venture at end of next year. AgustaWestland is committed to offering the best commercial rotorcraft solutions to meet the requirements of the rapidly expanding Chinese market and this cooperation further develops its collaboration with preeminent Chinese...

Not Even Fog and War Can Ground Ka-52 Helicopter 06 September 2011 By Irina Filatova ARSENYEV, Primorye Region — A holiday atmosphere filled the air as people carrying red, white and yellow balloons filled tidy streets in Arsenyev, a small town in the Primorye region, ignoring a thick fog covering the five-story Soviet-era apartment buildings. Yury Denisenko, managing director of Progress, the local helicopter plant, knew that even the fog was unlikely to spoil the day. His plant, one of 10 units of state-owned defense contractor Russian Helicopters, was celebrating its 75th anniversary with a demonstration flight of its latest...

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of 30 servicemembers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Aug. 6 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed. The following sailors assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed: Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La., Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif., Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark., Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare...

Market watchers and technical analysts have often pointed out that financial markets often turn-around, in one direction or the other, on Tuesdays, specifically at about 10:15am. So, if history repeats itself and the pattern holds true, perhaps we will see a bounce tomorrow and a rally to a lower high in the stock market (a short-term high that is lower than the high in stock prices set back in July, hence a lower high). Technical analysts look at the cycles, trends and movement of markets in price and time, which is different from fundamental analysis which focuses on the underlying...

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, secure the area after existing a Chinoonk helicopter, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in this Sunday, June 18, 2006 file photo. Insurgents apparently shot down a U.S. military helicopter Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 similar to this one shown during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite Navy SEALs unit that killed Usama bin Laden, as well as seven Afghan commandos, U.S. officials said. An Afghan official says there is fighting in the area where a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter was apparently...

A US helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan has killed 31 US special forces and seven Afghan soldiers, President Hamid Karzai's office says. US media reports that many of those killed were from the elite Navy SEALs. Neither the US nor Nato have confirmed the cause, but witnesses, officials and the Taliban say it was shot down. The incident is believed to be the biggest single loss of life for US forces in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001. The Chinook helicopter went down overnight in Wardak province, the statement from President Karzai's office said. It was returning from an operation...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter during an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan, killing 37 people on board, a military official said on Saturday.

Clark Gable's Grandson Accused Of Shining Laser At Chopper Gable Faces Felony Charge By Michael Martinez CNN POSTED: 4:24 pm EDT July 30, 2011 UPDATED: 7:32 am EDT July 31, 2011 LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Clark James Gable, 22, the only grandson of legendary actor Clark Gable, was playing with a laser when police arrested him, charging him with a felony this week, his manager told CNN Saturday.

Helicopters can be deployed to war zone, experts declare Defence Writer Ian McPhedran From:The Advertiser July 22, 201112:00AM THE Federal Government and military chiefs are under pressure to send new attack choppers to Afghanistan. High-level war games proved the army's Tiger attack helicopters were ready to fight. The Tigers are not fully accepted into operational service, but they have performed so well at the huge biennial military exercise with US forces at Shoalwater Bay that one senior officer has pronounced them "ready for war". The key sticking point remains the controversial issue of night-vision equipment - the choppers are more...

Seahawk deal ditches Europeans Brendan Nicholson, Defence editor From:The Australian June 17, 2011 THE Gillard government has gone for a no-risk option by buying 24 Seahawk naval combat helicopters for $3 billion "off the shelf" from the US, instead of the rival European NATO frigate helicopter still under development. The decision is causing consternation among European manufacturers who had invested heavily in Australia in the expectation of winning long-term manufacturing and maintenance contracts for the Australian Defence Force's substantial helicopter fleet. "This will be read in the boardrooms of Europe as a clear warning not to invest in Australia," a...

Troops round up protesters in border regions as anti-Assad rallies spread from Damascus to Daraa; thousands of refugees flee to Turkey; UN says Assad refusing to take phone calls from Ban Ki-Moon. AMMAN - Syrian helicopter gunships fired machine guns to disperse a large pro-democracy protest in the town of Maarat al-Numaan on Friday, witnesses said, a dangerous escalation of force at the end of a day in which 32 civilians were reported killed by Assad's forces across the country. The gunship use was the first reported use of air power to quell protests in Syria's uprising. The Syrian Observatory...

Rosvertol seeks Algeria Mi-28 export deal Russia's Rosvertol attack helicopter producer said on Monday it is in talks with Algeria over exports of its Mi-28NE for delivery from 2012-2017. "A commercial proposal has already been sent [to Algiers] and discussions will begin this year," Rosvertol General Director Boris Slyusar said. "We hope to sign a contract for delivery in 2012-2017." Rosvertol is the attack helicopter arm of the state-owned Russian Helicopters holding company. If successful, the deal will be the second export sale of the night-capable Mi-28NE, which is currently being introduced to the Russian armed forces. Venezuela ordered 10...

When it comes to controlling the spread of feral pigs in San Diego County, the public hunting effort isn’t doing the job. That has led federal agencies to launch an ambitious program that will use cage traps, corral traps, federal hunters with guns and dogs and even shooting from helicopters to exterminate the area’s population of wild swine. Officials see the pigs as a threat to fragile ecosystems and public health and safety. Environmentalists worry about the damage wild pigs will do to the county’s sensitive habitat, much of it rebounding from Southern California’s catastrophic wildfires of the last decade.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Pakistan has returned the wreckage of a US helicopter used in the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden early this month, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday. "The wreckage of the helicopter destroyed in the bin Laden operation was returned over the weekend and is now back in the United States," Colonel Dave Lapan told AFP. The helicopter was damaged in a hard landing at bin Laden's compound and US special forces deliberately blew it up after gunning down the Al-Qaeda leader in the May 1-2 raid, officials have said. Photographs of the tail of the wrecked...