05-05-11 Mission Helo Was Secret Stealth Black Hawk

The helicopters that flew the U.S. Navy SEALs on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden were a radar evading variant of the special operations MH-60 Black Hawk,according to a retired U.S. special operations aviator.The helicopters low-observable technology is similar to that of the F-117 Stealth Fighter the retired special operations aviator said."It really didnt look like a traditional Black Hawk," he said.It had "hard edges,sort of like an F-117,you know how they have those distinctive edges and angles thats what they had on this one." In addition,"in order to keep the radar cross-section down,you have to do something to treat the windshield," he said.If a special coating was applied to the windshield it is "very plausible" that would make the helicopter more difficult to fly for pilots wearing night-vision goggles,he said.The helicopters carrying the SEALs arrived over the bin Laden compound at about 1 a.m. local time on May 2.One crash-landed in the courtyard and was so badly damaged it was unable to take off again.That crash landing might have been caused by a phenomenon known as "settling with power," which occurs when a helicopter descends too quickly because its rotors cannot get the lift required from the turbulent air of their own downwash."Its hard to settle with power in a Black Hawk,but then again,if they were using one of these low-observable helicopters,working at max gross weight,its certainly plausible that they could have because they would have been flying so heavy," the retired special operations aviator said,noting that low-observable modifications added "several hundred pounds" to the weight of the MH-60,which already weighs about 500 to 1000 pounds more than a regular UH-60 Black Hawk.The special operations troops on the bin Laden mission destroyed the stricken aircraft most likely using thermite grenades but the resultant fire left the helicopters tail boom,tail rotor assembly and horizontal stabilizers intact in the compounds courtyard.Photographs of the wreckage taken the next day raced around the Internet,creating a firestorm of speculation among military aviation enthusiasts because the tail of the helicopter did not resemble any officially acknowledged U.S. military airframe.This was to be expected,the retired special operations aviator said."Certain parts of the fuselage,the nose and the tail had these various almost like snap-on parts to them that gave it the very unique appearance," he said.He and another source referred to the disc-shaped device that is seen covering the tail rotor in the photographs as a "hubcap." If the radar-evading technology worked,it "would be a true statement" to say that the use of the low-observable Black Hawks was evidence that the United States gave Pakistani authorities no advance warning of the mission,the retired special operations aviator added.