Fallen stealth chopper leaves clues

Military expert John Gresham talks about the new model stealth aircraft used by Special Ops in the bin Laden raid. 

During the Bin Laden operation, one of the helicopters crashed and was exploded by US troops before they evacuated, leaving a tail fragment behind. This piece caused worldwide news because it appeared to be from an aircraft noone knew was in use – a stealth helicopter. Eliot Spitzer interviewed guest John Gresham, who has co-authored seven books with Tom Clancy and edits the Report on Special Operations, about what this new aircraft might be.

This picture, by artist Ugo Crisponi of Aviation Graphic for the weblog of David Cenciotti , shows the known version Blackhawk MH-60 (below) and speculates a sketch of the modified stealth “Black Helo” (above).

Helicopters are normally the most difficult aircraft to hide from radar because of their shape, noise and rotating blades. The stealth modifications – harder-to-see design, electronic and radar countermeasures and LPI radars – seems to have enabled the copters to carry out their mission without first informing the Pakistani authorities.

-David Handelman, Producer