Military Bin Laden Helicopter raid questions

One 48

One 48

One 48

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A long time ago now (it seems) I woke up to the news Obama had authorised the raid into a suspected Bin Laden hide out, it was BIG BIG news, so like 9/11 too I went to newsagents and bought newspapers to seal, just as I did the day I heard about 9/11 ... I'm peculiar that way as an obscure collector of modern history :)

It was obvious big news was made and I wanted to seal it for .. who knows what? because we all know how newspapers physically decay.

But what I find most peculiar is, we still know almost nothing about those stealth Blackhawks used on that raid ... I mean not long after the Kosovo F117A shoot down the USA admitted to the F-117A Nighthawk program (AKA Stealth Fighter) ... they had to I suppose!

Almost exact same thing happened on the Bin Laden raid, the Stealth Blackhawk was lost (not to enemy fire but by landing accident) they destroyed most of it before they left, but photos have leaked about stealthy bits, the tail rotary area in particular.

That was some serious dark project and had to have been in development for some time, but no more word of it any-more ... most curious!

www.wired.com

Aviation Geeks Scramble to ID bin Laden Raid's Mystery Copter

Updated 8:33 p.m, May 4 The May 2 raid on Osama bin Laden’s luxury compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, had it all: painstaking intelligence-gathering, a heroic Navy SEAL assault team, satellite and drone surveillance, and biometric forensics. And now this: a possible super-secret, stealthy...
www.wired.com www.wired.com
 
The F117a was known about publicly quite a while before the shoot down in 1999. It was used and publicised during the first Gulf War In 1991.

There is an article here about earlier Blackhawk projects: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...mage-ever-of-a-stealthy-black-hawk-helicopter

It is also possible this was one of only a very small number, and why publicise assets unless there is a definite need.
I had read some suggestion it was also developed specifically for this operation even.
 
ajf said:
It is also possible this was one of only a very small number, and why publicise assets unless there is a definite need.
I had read some suggestion it was also developed specifically for this operation even.
Click to expand...

Yes I think this was probably a bespoke dark secret program that was pushed through fast to get Bin laden taken out. Perhaps prototype Stealth Blackhawks? Beta Stealth Blackhawks :)

Was the last US dark project the F117A, or the SR71 before the final ones? I highly doubt it, there was most assuredly something different about the two Blackhawks used in the raid because it became global in hours after it happened, actually it became instant due to a local journalist reporting it live as I recall.

The pictures of the blown up Blackhawk stealth styled aircraft are very interesting to me as an aviation enthusiast ... the tail unit that survived the blast is like no known Blackhawk aircraft known ... anyone remember the old Commanche project, it looks a lot more like that. I'm just speculating there of course, it wasn't a Comanche. But perhaps part of its stealth design survived and lived on in some way?

I'm not a conspiracy theorist or anything like that before this thread attracts the local nuts ... just historically curious about the military hardware used on that raid.

Not that any of us will ever really know of course, but perhaps a fun topic to speculate about?
 
The military always has stuff R&D wise, some of it functional one offs, special mission or prototypes, etc. way ahead of what people think. A lot of it goes nowhere due to the costs or realities of actually using it, etc. even when it works.
 
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Rroff said:
The military always has stuff R&D wise, some of it functional one offs, special mission or prototypes, etc. way ahead of what people think. A lot of it goes nowhere due to the costs or realities of actually using it, etc. even when it works.
Click to expand...

And sometimes, in the case of Ajax, they can’t get it to work no matter how much they spend on it :D
 
The US had stealth helicopter knowledge from the Comanche program, so they probably took a lot of what they learned from that and applied it to a small number of Blackhawks which could be used for ops like the Bin Laden raid.
 
B-21 - contract in 2015, rolled out last year. Entire `new` stealth bomber from scratch in 7 years - or, something already being worked on?

F117a - was first photographed in 1989 over Panama

as for `Silent Hawk`

www.thedrive.com

This Is The First Photo Ever Of A Stealthy Black Hawk Helicopter

Almost a decade since we learned of the stealth Black Hawks used in the Bin Laden raid, we have seen no images of them or of their lineage, until now.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
 
And then there was the aurora Aircraft, the myth seems to be well and truly buried now, or perhaps the B2 or F117A, was the Aurora? :)
 
All the theory's aside though, we all acknowledge it happened, we all seem to agree Bin Laden was targeted and taken out and rightly so IMHO.

As for Stealth Blackhawks ,,, I think probably? The mission was slightly less than compromised when one of the Helicopters crashed and had to be partially destroyed by retreating personal as an obvious contingency plan.
But WOW, it was one incredibly successful mission all things considered and Obama's reputation has not been damaged one bit by this IMHO.

Nobody doubts now Bin Laden was taken out in that raid and the final ... almost respectful way he was put to rest to, to stop him being a martyr, you just never hear of him him anymore, not even from the old protagonists.

He's fish food now and thats all he ever deserved IMHO.

I think we all want to know about the guy who shot Bin Laden though?

www.youtube.com

A Firsthand Account of Killing Osama Bin Laden with Rob O'Neill

Watch the full episode - https://youtu.be/zpYruBI7qAkBecome a Patron! - http://bit.ly/JBNPatreonSubscribe on YouTube - http://bit.ly/BuddenYTSubExecutive Pro...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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One 48 said:
All the theory's aside though, we all acknowledge it happened, we all seem to agree Bin Laden was targeted and taken out and rightly so IMHO.

As for Stealth Blackhawks ,,, I think probably? The mission was slightly less than compromised when one of the Helicopters crashed and had to be partially destroyed by retreating personal as an obvious contingency plan.
But WOW, it was one incredibly successful mission all things considered and Obama's reputation has not been damaged one bit by this IMHO.

Nobody doubts now Bin Laden was taken out in that raid and the final ... almost respectful way he was put to rest to, to stop him being a martyr, you just never hear of him him anymore, not even from the old protagonists.

He's fish food now and thats all he ever deserved IMHO.

I think we all want to know about the guy who shot Bin Laden though?

www.youtube.com

A Firsthand Account of Killing Osama Bin Laden with Rob O'Neill

Watch the full episode - https://youtu.be/zpYruBI7qAkBecome a Patron! - http://bit.ly/JBNPatreonSubscribe on YouTube - http://bit.ly/BuddenYTSubExecutive Pro...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
Click to expand...

Apparently Rob O Neill was not the person who initially shot Bin Laden (that person remains unnamed, the silent professional of sorts), but he did burst through the doorway afterwards and shoot him in the face when he was prostrate on the floor. Apparently they all had a go at canoeing him, which is why the pictures of his body were never shown. It's described in this book, which is very interesting:

 
Just watch the movie Zero Dark Thirty (2012) about this event. We all know American military films never rewrite history and can basically be treated as documentaries right? *Cough* U571 *cough*.
 
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probably not much of a stretch to assume that when a new experimental helicopter needs to be destroyed on a very important mission that confidence of the aircraft is probably lost and they found better uses for the money.
 
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Is their that much to know?..wernt they jsut modified with shorter roters than spun at the absulte less than minimum to avoid the whupping sound they make?
 
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