Secret Military Stealth Chopper?

[PAFirefighter11]

I just caught on to this last night, and did some research this morning. Seems like the US used at least 1 stealth helicopter during the bin Laden raid in Afghanistan. Here are some shots of what was left after it made a hard landing and had to be destroyed by exposives:











Drawing of what it may look like:


I find this all pretty fascinating. Obviously it wasn't 100% stealth if that "neighbor" was Tweeting that he heard 'em.

[armyguy6566]

It was a modified UH60 Blackhawk. It was modified to reduce, not elminate, rotor and engine noise. It is indeed a very fascinating machine and how the actually were able to reduce the noise.

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by armyguy6566

It was a modified UH60 Blackhawk. It was modified to reduce, not elminate, rotor and engine noise. It is indeed a very fascinating machine and how the actually were able to reduce the noise.

Yah I just found this article:

By Bill Sweetman william_sweetman@aviationweek.com

A previously undisclosed, classified stealth helicopter apparently was part of the U.S. task force that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1.

The exact type of helicopter is unknown but it appears to be a highly modified version of an H-60 Blackhawk. Photos disseminated via the European PressPhoto agency and attributed to an anonymous stringer show that the helicopter’s tail features stealth-configured shapes on the boom and the tail rotor hub fairings, swept stabilizers and a “dishpan” cover over a five-or-six-blade tail rotor. It has a silver-loaded infrared suppression finish similar to that seen on V-22s.

See AviationWeek.com/ares for some photographs.

The aircraft was damaged during the mission and abandoned. The mission team destroyed most of the airframe but its tail section landed outside the wall of the target compound and escaped demolition.

Stealth helicopter technology is not new and was applied extensively to the Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche, cancelled in 2004. Compared with fixed-wing stealth, more emphasis is usually placed on noise and infrared signatures.

Noise can be reduced and made less conspicuous by adding blades to the main and tail rotors. It can also be reduced by aerodynamic modifications and flight control changes that make it possible to reduce rotor rpm, particularly in forward flight below maximum speed. Infrared reduction measures are crucial - the Comanche had an elaborate system of exhaust ducts and fresh-air ejectors in its tailboom.

Radar cross-section (RCS) reduction measures include flattened and canted body sides, making landing gear and other features retractable, and adding fairings over the rotor hubs. It usually is not possible to achieve the same - you can’t make a helo as radar-stealthy as a fixed-wing airplane, but helicopters generally operate at low altitude in ground clutter. Reducing RCS also makes jamming more effective, whether from the aircraft itself or from a standoff jammer.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gener...h%20Helicopter

[DC2.2GSR]

I wouldn't doubt it. Things like that take years of practical application usage while still remaining highly secret before they're able to be declassified and used 'in public'. Look at the SR-71, it's official 'first flight' was said to be in 1964, but in reality they were using earlier versions of it far before that in actual day to day missions.

[05Accent]

thats interesting!!

[Rodimus_Prime]

no its actually been around for a while....

[PAFirefighter11]

Hahah I miss AirWolf. I used to love that show.

[FocusDude]

Pakistan is so butt hurt after this. It is awesome they had no clue until we were already out. I just hope the tail section can't show them much, or the Chinese much, either or.

[c0nfl1kt]

Why is America so bad ass? Damn, I love being American.

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

Hahah I miss AirWolf. I used to love that show.

That brings back memories.

[halfhorsepower]

Blackhawks are great, but they do have a history of not so nice malfunctions, some of which have resulted in loss of life for occupants. Their main purpose falls between the chinook/osprey & smaller copters in transporting people and sometimes medical supplies/ammo.

The tweet actually was from someone that happened to be directly under one or both of the aircraft's flight path as they moved in to land, they were so quiet that he thought they were much farther away. I guess the other copter was also stealth or they would have evacuated usama when hearing that unmistakable LOUD main rotor on the conventional model. Groups of 3-4 blackhawks routinely fly directly over my house at about 600-700 feet every 6-8 weeks, and it shakes my house. whatever modifications were made obviously did the trick.

- Andy

[DaBombDiggidy]

2021 mystery modified blackhawk will be V


funny part is the US military R&D looked into stuff like ^ after the movie hahaha

[Chris B.]

Its actually nothing new. It just hasn't received much attention. Developemnt of it began in the 1990's. It was worked on by the same company that did the canceled RAH-66 project. Not all that R&D was wasted.

[halfhorsepower]

I believe they are also working on stealth drones, since they do get shot down from time to time with ground to air radar guided missiles. Noise attenuation and exhaust heat cloaking would be useful as well.

[SvicksTc]

As for the huge portion of the tail section being still intact, I think they were more concerned about destroying the front of the aircraft...

[DPancoast]

thats def pretty cool

[Khellen]

Originally Posted by SvicksTc

As for the huge portion of the tail section being still intact, I think they were more concerned about destroying the front of the aircraft...

+1. I think they are usually more concerned with electronics being recovered then anything else.