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Defense News - United States |
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Friday,
May 6, 2011, 09:51 AM |
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| US
Army may have operated new secret version of UH-60 helicopter
during Osama Bin Laden raid. |
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The
US military may have operated a new classified helicopter
type in its recent raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in
Pakistan. It was a secretly developed stealth helicopter,
probably a highly modified version of an UH-60 Blackhawk.
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Specifically,
the tail rotor of the crashed helicopter has a five-bladed
assembly, whereas the Black Hawk tail rotor has four blades.
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First
News reports show the remains of what appears to be a
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed in the
US military raid that killed Osama bin Laden early on
2 May.
Images of the wreckage of a helicopter that reportedly
crashed during the operation, apparently due to an undisclosed
technical malfunction, do not conform to any types that
are known to be in service with the US military or in
development.
It’s
not uncommon for U.S. military forces to destroy an aircraft
downed in a foreign land, but U.S. Special Forces had
particular cause to blow up the ill-fated helo that participated
in Sunday’s raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound
in Pakistan. Apparently, it was a secret stealth helicopter,
the design of which U.S. military commanders would not
be keen to share with the Pakistanis or anyone else.
Specifically,
the tail rotor of the crashed helicopter has a five-bladed
assembly, whereas the Black Hawk tail rotor has four blades.
Also, where the Black Hawk's vertical tail section tapers
towards the top, the helicopter lost in the raid has a
vertical tailplane than has an even chord from top to
bottom capped off with what appears to be a large aerodynamic
surface.
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Standard
US Army BlackHawk UH-60 helicopter |
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