BIN LADEN RAID

When the first photos of the Abbottabad complex where Osama Bin Laden had been discovered and killed on May 2, 2011 were analyzed, they showed something that had not been seen before: the remains of one of the helicopters used by the U.S. Navy SEALs in Operation "Neptune Spear", it did not seem to belong to any known type that the U.S. had in service.

The horizontal stabilizer and tail rotor of the remains depicted in the photographs differed from the H-60. Both the shape and position were not common to any of the Black Hawks helicopters, and the tail rotor had a strange cover that could be anything from a noise-reducing cover to an armored plate.

Similarly, specialists who analyzed the images discovered evidence in the fuselage of a stealth-type design: those that seek to evade radar, deflecting or absorbing the waves they emit.

From here, the imagination of analysts, specialized journalists, and military enthusiasts did the rest: engine shields, rotor covers, an additional main rotor blade (to reduce rotor speed, making the blades quieter), RAM (radar-absorbing material) coating, straight lines, etc. All this was what survived the attempt by Navy Seals Team 6 to destroy the helicopter. Possibly because part of the fuselage (mainly the tail) was outside the complex, hanging outside one of the high walls that surrounded it.

Objective achieved with an associated cost

The American commandos used grenades to destroy the entire fuselage of the helicopter, but the rear tail section remained partially intact. Given the haste and immediate need to leave the objective of the operation, knowing that alerted Pakistani F-16s were already on their way, the full destruction was not completed. These remains were removed by Pakistani military at dawn. There is speculation that this could have led to an unauthorized transfer of this technology to third countries, with China being the most likely nation to receive it. Analysts argue that the remains actually looked more like an S-76 than a modified MH-60 Black Hawk.

The appearance of Sean Naylor's book, Relentless Strike: The Secret History Of Joint Special Operations Command, provided previously unknown details. According to Naylor, the helicopters were prototypes of an abandoned program that has now been reborn in an improved way after their use during Operation Neptune Spear.

What does this technology aim for?

As a general rule, the larger the fuselage of a helicopter, the farther away from the target its arrival can be heard and the larger its RCS (Radar Cross Section) will be, giving it away to radar. It is key to reduce the time the enemy hears you approaching and to reach the target as silently as possible with materials and sections of the structure that reflect radar waves to a lesser extent. "Even shortening fifteen seconds is huge," experts recognize. "And thirty seconds are incredible, because then you can be on top of the target and attack quickly," as it seems was finally achieved.

 

Naylor states in his book that although the program was based at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, training on Black Hawks was conducted in Area 51 in Nevada, the China Lake Naval Weapons Station in California, and the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The idea was to build four of the helicopters to start a new special operations aviation detachment in Nevada, but this never happened. By 2011, the program was largely canceled, although two airframes existed and were occasionally flown by personnel from the 160th SOAR.

The SEALs did not agree

According to the same book, the two modified Black Hawks had questionable performance, with the weight penalties resulting from their modifications making them difficult to control under certain conditions, especially in a hover. Naylor states several times that the aircraft was not chosen by the SEALs.

The SEALs wanted to use the larger MH-47 Chinooks, which were highly modified and well-armed and for which the SOAR is so well known, having flown in some of the most hostile places in the world. In fact, the book states that they tested the Chinooks against the Area 51 radars that mimicked those used by Pakistan's air defense system, and the data showed that they would have a good chance of survival by using traditional infiltration techniques. Still, their protest was totally denied by the CIA and Admiral William McRaven, the same commander of the Joint Special Operations Command.

That kind of thing really happened several times, even just before the mission was executed. It was sold to the White House that the stealthy Black Hawks were invisible to radar, and as such, SEALs would infiltrate Abbottabad, Pakistan, using them. The fact that they were not fully combat-tested and that they had an almost experimental nature was a risk that was assumed, and only the ultimate success of the mission – eliminating Bin Laden – managed to cover up the fiasco of losing such a sophisticated aircraft and the possible transfer of technology that could have occurred.

It won't be long until all these incidents become evidence. These types of aircraft remain secret for several years, but their existence is always eventually revealed. With the passing of the years and the declassification of documents, we will know at least part of the truth of what happened that night in Abbottabad, and the characteristics of the helicopters that enabled the death of Bin Laden.

 

BIN LADEN RAID

 

When the first photos of the Abbottabad complex where Osama Bin Laden had been discovered and killed on May 2, 2011 were analyzed, they showed something that had not been seen before: the remains of one of the helicopters used by the Navy SEALS in Operation "Spear of Neptune", it did not seem to belong to any known type of those that the U.S. had in service.

The horizontal stabilizer and tail rotor of the remains depicted in the photographs differed from the H-60. Both the shape and position were not common to any of the Black Hawks helicopters, and the tail rotor had a strange cover that could be anything from a noise-reducing cover to an armored plate.

Similarly specialists who analyzed the images discovered evidence in the fuselage of a stealth-type design: those who seek to bypass the radar, deflecting or absorbing the waves that they emit.

From here the imagination of analysts, specialized journalists and fans of the military world put the rest: motor shields, rotor covers, an additional main rotor blade (to reduce the rotor speed, making the blades quieter), RAM lining (radar absorption material), straight lines, etc. All this was what survived the attempt of Navy Seals team 6 to destroy the helicopter. Possibly because part of the fuselage (mainly the tail) was outside the complex, hanging outside one of the high walls that surrounded it.

Objective met with an associated cost

The American commandos used grenades to destroy the entire fuselage of the helicopter, but the rear tail section was partially intact. Given the haste and need to leave the objective of the operation immediately, knowing that alerted Pakistani F-16s were already underway, the job was not finally finished . These remains were removed by Pakistani military at dawn. There is speculation that this could have caused an unauthorized transfer of this technology to third countries, with China being the most likely nation to receive it. Analysts argue that the remains actually looked more like an S-76 than a modified MH-60 Black Hawk.

The appearance of Sean Naylor's book, Relentless Strike: The Secret History Of Joint Special Operations Command, allowed to know previously unknown details. According to Naylor, the helicopters were prototypes of an abandoned program that has now been reborn in an improved way after use during Operation Neptune Spear.

 

What does this technology pursue?

As a general rule, the larger the fuselage of a helicopter, the farther away from the target you will be able to hear its arrival, and the RCS (Radar Cross Section) will be larger, been tracked by the radar. It is key to reduce the time the enemy hears you approaching and fly as high as possible with materials and sections of the structure that reflect radar waves to a lesser extent. "Even shortening fifteen seconds is huge," experts recognize. "And thirty seconds are incredible, because then you can be on top of the target and attack quickly," as it seems it was finally achieved.

 

Naylor states in his book that although the program was based on Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Black Hawks training was conducted in Area 51 in Nevada, the China Lake Naval Weapons Station in California and the Yuma Test Field in Arizona. The idea was to build four of the helicopters to start a new special operations aviation detachment in Nevada, but this never happened. For 2011, the program was largely canceled, although there were two airframes and were occasionally flown by 160 SOAR staff.

 

SEALs did not agree

According to the same book, the two modified Black Hawks had a questionable performance, with the weight penalties resulting from their modifications that made them difficult to control under certain conditions, especially on a hover. Naylor states several times that the aircraft was not chosen by the SEALS.

The SEALs wanted to use the largest MH-47 Chinooks, very modified and well armed for which SOAR is so well known and has flown in some of the most hostile places in the world. In fact, the book states that the Chinooks tested against the Area 51 radars that mimicked those used by Pakistan's air defense system and the data showed that they would have a good chance of survival through the use of traditional infiltration techniques. Still, his protest was totally denied by the CIA and Admiral William McRaven, the same commander of the Joint Special Operations Command.

 

 

That kind of thing really happened several times, even just before the mission was executed. It was sold to the White House that stealthy Black Hawks were invisible to the radar, and as such, SEALs would infiltrate Abbottabad, Pakistan, using them. The fact that they were not fully tested in combat and that they had an almost experimental nature was a risk that was assumed and only the final success of the mission: to kill Bin Laden, managed to cover the fiasco of losing such a state of the art helicopter and the possible transfer of technology that could have happened.

It won't be long until all these incidents become evidence. These types of skirmishes remain secret for several years, but finally their existence is always revealed. With the passing of the years and the declassification of documents, we will know at least part of the truth of what happened that night in Abbottabad, and the characteristics of the helicopters that allowed U.S. to undertake the death of Bin Laden.