• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Mysterious stealth helicopter used in bin Laden raid...

dontworrybehappy

dontworrybehappy

Banned
DP Veteran
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Messages
3,928
Reaction score
1,559
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Libertarian
Stealth Helicopters Used In Bin Laden Raid - International Business Times

It seems that we just gave the enemy a lot of new technology. The Obama loving liberals might want to hesitate before calling this a full success. Handing the enemy a billion dollars worth of stealth technology is not a commendable outcome.

Navy-SEAL-secret-stealth-helicopter-650x485.jpg
 
Last edited:
That doesn't look like it can hold people
 
It makes me think of cheesy 50s scifi spaceships. I am waiting for people wrapped in tin foil to show up on the picture.
 
Apparently this tail rotor system is legitimate. I was doubtful myself at first.
 
Extremely unfortunate situation.....

1 - You weren't supposed to see it.

2 - The wreckage should have been completely destroyed to **** with a Tomahawk or equivalent
 
We were lied to by the gov't. They said it was a Blackhawk. There is nothing "blackhawkish" about that part. That is the tailrotor of a presently unknown aircraft.
 
dontworrybehappy said:
We were lied to by the gov't. They said it was a Blackhawk. There is nothing "blackhawkish" about that part. That is the tailrotor of a presently unknown aircraft.
Click to expand...

You don't believe in heavy modifications? And first of all, the fact that the helicopter had to be left behind is not Obama's fault. Secondly, the SEALs destroyed as much of it as they could. I doubt the Pakis have the technology to make use of what's left.
 
Last edited:
StillBallin75 said:
You don't believe in heavy modifications? And first of all, the fact that the helicopter had to be left behind is not Obama's fault. Secondly, the SEALs destroyed as much of it as they could. I doubt the Pakis have the technology to make use of what's left.
Click to expand...

The paki's don't, but China sure does and they're drooling to get their hands on that thing.

Dude, ain't no amount of modifications is going to turn this:

Blackhawk-tail-roter.jpg


Into this:

Stealth-tail-rotor-1024x768.jpg


I'm a licensed heli mechanic, but it doesn't take one to know that those two parts are slightly different, even if only in color! :lamo
 
dontworrybehappy said:
The paki's don't, but China sure does and they're drooling to get their hands on that thing.

Dude, ain't no amount of modifications is going to turn this:

Blackhawk-tail-roter.jpg


Into this:

Stealth-tail-rotor-1024x768.jpg


I'm a licensed heli mechanic, but it doesn't take one to know that those two parts are slightly different, even if only in color! :lamo
Click to expand...

I think they definitely lost some performance going away from the canted tail rotor.
 
ric27 said:
Extremely unfortunate situation.....

1 - You weren't supposed to see it.

2 - The wreckage should have been completely destroyed to **** with a Tomahawk or equivalent
Click to expand...

I find it odd that it was painted silver or a shiny gray.
 
If you are a dedicated fan of the Discovery Channel you will remember seeing a chopper very much like the one pictured a few years ago as an artists concept.

All they ever said about them is Stealth they never speculate about the capabilities.

I wonder what the bidding war between Russia and China is up to.
 
And unfortunately it doesn't correspond with the part found.

You cant make the blackhawk quiet. It's engines and rotor hub are for lifting, not silence. It would require such a drastic change in order to make that airframe stealth that it wouldn't be the same aircraft anymore.

It would be like taking a car and changing every single part on it. It's not the original car anymore.

Oh yea, there were numerous reports that just prior to the helis arriving for the attack, all electricity and cell phone and all electronic communication went down in the area. And once they left, they came back on. That heli had some VERY sophisticated equipment on board.
 
Last edited:
dontworrybehappy said:
Oh yea, there were numerous reports that just prior to the helis arriving for the attack, all electricity and cell phone and all electronic communication went down in the area. And once they left, they came back on. That heli had some VERY sophisticated equipment on board.
Click to expand...

That's not true, as evidenced by the guy who tweeted the whole thing.
 
1. heavy modification doesn't make it not a blackhawk. remember that program names are just that - program names. the body type appears roughly similar; and even that isn't really necessary.

2. if this was a black program - then good. the last thing we would have wanted prior to this is OBL or the Paki's developing some kind of countermeasure. Either of those results in a higher possibility of mission failure - SEAL Team 6 and the 160th (whom we can only assume was flying) are both national tier-1 assets; anything they get sent on is worth not telling everyone about.

3. Electronics are part of the 160th's mission as well. Did anyone thing we didn't have the capability to block cellphones in a given range?
 
ric27 said:
Extremely unfortunate situation.....

1 - You weren't supposed to see it.
Click to expand...

It would never have been used if the chance of it being revealed was not acceptable.

2 - The wreckage should have been completely destroyed to **** with a Tomahawk or equivalent
Click to expand...

Um, no. You simply cannot use cruise missiles for something like that. The team in place has to destroy as much as it can, which is in fact what was reported to have happened.
 
The truth is, based on the picture, nothing that was recovered will give away information not already speculated/known. Use of this would have been seen to give the mission a higher chance of success, and the risks worth the reward. No military mission goes perfectly, and complaining when it doesn't is silly. The helo is interesting, and that is about all there is to this.
 
The point of a stealth helicopter would not be to make it silent - impossible. It would be to eliminate the radar cross section and thus avoid air defenses.
 
Redress said:
It would never have been used if the chance of it being revealed was not acceptable.
Click to expand...

yup. sometimes the target is worth the risk - and this was one of those situations.

Um, no. You simply cannot use cruise missiles for something like that. The team in place has to destroy as much as it can, which is in fact what was reported to have happened.
Click to expand...

well, you wouldn't necessarily call in a TLAM; but I don't know why they didnt' have a Pred on station nearby for ISR. A couple of AGM-114's should have been able to take care of anything left over from the controlled demo the SEALs were able to pull off in the raid. It's an unfortunate part of an otherwise excellent raid.
 
pzycho said:
The point of a stealth helicopter would not be to make it silent - impossible. It would be to eliminate the radar cross section and thus avoid air defenses.
Click to expand...

and IR. and noise. and visual against a night skyline - which is why you actually want dark grey instead of black. Stealth isn't just counter-radar.
 
cpwill said:
and IR. and noise. and visual against a night skyline - which is why you actually want dark grey instead of black. Stealth isn't just counter-radar.
Click to expand...

I thought they went in in the afternoon.
 
Redress said:
The truth is, based on the picture, nothing that was recovered will give away information not already speculated/known.
Click to expand...

:( sadly this is not true. the chinese in particular are very, very good at reverse engineering.
 
pzycho said:
I thought they went in in the afternoon.
Click to expand...


true. but you don't design a helicopter for use between the hours of noon and 7pm local time. you design it for a 24 hour op potential. given that combat is a competitive game, we are rapidly getting to the point where we are perhaps even better at night than we are during the day. Charlie fears the night, now.
 
Last edited:
pzycho said:
The point of a stealth helicopter would not be to make it silent - impossible. It would be to eliminate the radar cross section and thus avoid air defenses.
Click to expand...

Actually modern helo's have a very small radar cross-section already. The idea is to reduce noise(not make them silent, but reduce noise) and lower heat sources.
 
cpwill said:
well, you wouldn't necessarily call in a TLAM; but I don't know why they didnt' have a Pred on station nearby for ISR. A couple of AGM-114's should have been able to take care of anything left over from the controlled demo the SEALs were able to pull off in the raid. It's an unfortunate part of an otherwise excellent raid.
Click to expand...

We still use Hellfires?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom