It's nothing more than a Zippo lighter with more fuel in it, and the only things left would be the engines, gearboxes, and rotor hubs when they crash since they are mostly made of magnesium.
Okay, I've been out of the loop since 1987 when I left Navy. I'm just going by what the families are claiming about the so-called armoured MH-47. I worked with the original CH-47 and new them to be waiting death traps for our Marines as I launched them off LPH-11. Where were the more versatile UH-60's in this day?
Either way, too many Spec Op guys on one slow moving flatform. Not being there and not sure what the ops commander was thinking, but in my day they would have split that many Spec Ops between 2 Chinooks with Cobras or Hueys for support or dropped them in at higher altitude for a later extraction.
They were simply sent into a "kill zone" with the enemy having the high ground - according to reports. Again, remember the savages in Somalia taking down 2 Black Hawks with simple RPG's. Still don't think it was some grand conspiracy of Obama or DOD underlings. It was mismanagement by the ops commander and probably a lucky shot by the enemy. It happens. Still, could have been an inside job since the Aftganis were replaced at the last moment on the manifest.
What a waste of our best. BTW, what ever happened to the Rangers?