Posted on 05/06/2011 8:13:52 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Osama bin Laden dead: hi-tech secret may end up in China
There are growing fears that top-secret stealth technology taken from the helicopter that crashed during the raid on the home of Osama bin Laden could be smuggled into China and cause a diplomatic row.
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent 05 May 2011
It has become clear that US special forces used a previously unseen stealth helicopter for the mission in order to evade Pakistani radar or being heard on the final approach to the home of the al-Qaeda terrorist.
The American troops used thermite grenades to destroy the helicopter’s main body but its rear section was left intact and taken away by the Pakistani military soon after the night raid on Monday. It is feared that if Islamabad refuses a request from Washington for the return of the tail section that the issue could turn into a diplomatic rift.
Relations are already fraught after the Seal Team Six raid entered Pakistan airspace apparently without permission and after the government was accused in some quarters of “harbouring” bin Laden.
It is believed that US Special Operations Command decided to give the operation the greatest chance of surprise by using the untested helicopters, probably modified Blackhawks.
Neighbours have said they did not hear the helicopters until they were directly overhead at 1am.
It is likely that the operation was launched from a special forces base inside the Afghanistan border. Their destination, Abbottabad, would have been at the limit of their range, although Blackhawks can be refuelled mid-flight.
One of the aircraft crashed during the raid after it is thought the engines developed a
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
If Pockestan is an ally of ours, according to Hillary Clinton, then why not just ask for the return of the remaining helicopter parts?
“One of the aircraft crashed during the raid after it is thought the engines developed a problem.”
I’ve also read that it was hit by weapons fire or that it hit a high wall of Bin Laden’s compound. Who knows which version is the correct one!
Have it ever dawned on you guys that it’s always technical/mechanical problems? Not once had America lost a craft to hostile fire.
Since we don’t know the correct version of events we’ll never know if that is true!
I read the chopper encountered a vortex while trying to land and subsequently crashed.
I’ve seen three versions of why the helicopter went down.
1) It got too close to the walls of the compound.
2) Mechanical problem.
3) Hit by fire from the ground.
There is a theory out there that says that this helo got a little too close to the building and caused a ground effect problem resulting in loss of lift on the rotor blades.
Who knows which version is correct.
fuzzy memory?
........APRIL 8, 1950 : (US AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN BY USSR) US PB4Y2 from VP-26, Det A, shot down by Soviet aircraft, over Baltic Sea off coast of Latvia
NOVEMBER 6, 1951 : (SEA OF JAPAN : US AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN BY USSR) US P2V-3W from VP-6 shot down by Soviet aircraft, over Sea of Japan off Vladivostok, Siberia.
JULY 31, 1952 : (YELLOW SEA : US AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN BY CHINESE) US PBM-5S2 from VP-731 attacked by Chinese fighters over the Yellow Sea
NOVEMBER 29, 1952 : (CHINA) On Nov. 29, 1952, above the foothills of the Changbai mountains, Downey and Fecteau flew into Chinese air space in an unarmed C-47 Skytrain....As they descended, the sky suddenly exploded in bursts of gunfire. It was a Chinese ambush..... ——— “Lessons From Failed Cold War Spy Mission in China,” AP, ROBERT BURNS
SEPTEMBER 4, 1954 : (US AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN BY USSR) US P2V from VP-19 shot down by Soviet aircraft, over Sea of Japan near Siberian coast.
JUNE 22, 1955 : (US AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN BY USSR) US P2V from VP-9 shot down by Soviet aircraft, St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea.
JUNE 16, 1959 : (US AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN BY NORTH KOREA) US P4M-1Q from VQ-1 attacked by North Korean fighters near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, over Sea of Japan. ......
I tend to lean towards #1 as most likely.
There’s not usually a whole lot of tech in the tail of a helicopter, so it’s very likely that whatever they learn from looking at it will not be much more than they would have learned looking at the photos from the crash site. Most of the juicy bits are in the main rotor and the avionics, and from the pics of that part of the craft, they won’t get much from it.
Pretty sure this was just a “stealthed” Blackhawk, so the basic airframe would be the same. Maybe different engines, and certainly a different main rotor and bodywork.
It’s JMHO, and I’m not a pilot much less a helicopter pilot, but looking at the layout of the Laden compound, and the conjectural drawings of the helicopters, my guess is that the helo’s main rotor clipped the wall of the compound, causing the craft to go into a spin and crash. The reason for my guess is that some of the conjectural drawings show an extra, angled segment of the main rotor blades, presumably as part of the stealth design. If, in the excitement of the moment, the pilot missed a mental gearshift and thought he was in a regular Blackhawk, he might not have left himself enough clearance away from the compound wall, and clipped it with that extra length of rotor blade. Making the landing at night, lights-out, would only have complicated the issue, night-vision notwithstanding. Also, unless they did things very differently, I’m pretty sure the accident happened during the extraction, as commandos normally do an infiltration by roping from the chopper, which means it wouldn’t have needed to land. Exfiltration necessarily means landing, since it’s a lot harder to go up those ropes fast than it is to come down them, especially after a combat operation.
It has become clear that US special forces used a previously unseen stealth helicopter for the mission in order to evade Pakistani radar or being heard on the final approach to the home of the al-Qaeda terrorist.This wouldn't have been necessary if a Clinton were president -- the Chinese could have just paid the reelection campaign and voila.
It won’t do them any good. In the US, we do not throw these things together. A lot of manufacturers build parts and then someone else puts them together. IOW a lot of people specialize in one aspect of the unit. Taking something apart and then building something like it denies you the chance to design it. I suspect that is why the Russians never got a carrier going.
The Russians never got a carrier going because they’re very expensive. They ran out of money. They’re starting to get money again though.
Oh hell, I was always under the impression it was because the Russians could not figure out how to make deck tie-downs. /s =.=
What makes you think that the ChiComs are so fortunate such that they’ll get their hands on the wreck or alternatively that the wreck is not covertly heading back to the States?
Similarly, what also makes you think that the Pakistanis, who partners with the US in the fight against radicalism, might not “covertly” be a part of this operation but requested to be anonymous as a precaution against reprisals from radicals?
Don’t forget, unlike Musharif who charts a distinct and independent course for Pakistan, Zardari on the other hand is America’s choice for the Pakistani throne. I doubt he’s not knowledgable of all the drones that enters Pakistan.
I fine it strange that Pakistani air defense simply just missed or were not aware of all those drones which was “deemed” as having violated Pakistani airspace without alerting the Pak Airforce to scrambling their shiny and brand new F-16’s to engage it.
Additionally, what even make you think that the wreck would be of any values to the ChiComs? Stealth is not a new thingy anymore these days. Stealth is now an obsolete technology. The Japanese, the South Koreans, even the Iranians are said to be fiddling around with a stealth of their own.
For me, the word “conspiracy” comes to mind. The JFK mystery comes to mind. The Apollo landing controversy, a mystery that even PBS had put up a documentary on, comes to mind. And, the Roswell UFO/Flying Saucer crush mystery which still exists to this very day, comes to mind.
Avatar is such a smart plot that everyone one of us felt in love with it. Those birds happens to be my most favorite of fantasy!
What makes you think that the ChiComs are so fortunate such that they’ll get their hands on the wreck or alternatively that the wreck is not covertly heading back to the States?
Similarly, what also makes you think that the Pakistanis, who partners with the US in the fight against radicalism, might not “covertly” be a part of this operation but requested to be anonymous as a precaution against reprisals from radicals?
Don’t forget, unlike Musharif who charts a distinct and independent course for Pakistan, Zardari on the other hand is America’s choice for the Pakistani throne. I doubt he’s not knowledgable of all the drones that enters Pakistan.
I fine it strange that Pakistani air defense simply just missed or were not aware of all those drones which was “deemed” as having violated Pakistani airspace without alerting the Pak Airforce to scrambling their shiny and brand new F-16’s to engage it.
Additionally, what even make you think that the wreck would be of any values to the ChiComs? Stealth is not a new thingy anymore these days. Stealth is now an obsolete technology. The Japanese, the South Koreans, even the Iranians are said to be fiddling around with a stealth of their own.
For me, the word “conspiracy” comes to mind. The JFK mystery comes to mind. The Apollo landing controversy, a mystery that even PBS had put up a documentary on, comes to mind. And, the Roswell UFO/Flying Saucer crush mystery which still exists to this very day, comes to mind.
Avatar is such a smart plot that everyone one of us felt in love with it. Those birds happens to be my most favorite of fantasy!
If we know that China is learning from this episode. STOP STOP ALL FOREIGN AID TO PAKISTAN. NOTHING MORE. Cancel payment on anything pending.
You guys are so senile. I betcha the chopper is heading towards a C-130 or a super C-5 sitting in some tarmac somewhere in Pakistan awaiting transport back to Boeing or whoever built it. I’m betting that [Zardari’s Pakistan] is in on this operation but wished to stay in the limelight over fear of reprisal from Qaida.
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