Sunday, May 08, 2011

Was the modified Black Hawk a modern version of the Credible Sport?



Question.  Is the modified Black Hawk that 'controlled crashed' into Bin Laden's compound just a modern day version of the C-130 Credible Sport?  By that I mean are we seeing a one off 'Black Project' that was used to ensure the element of surprise?

Rationale.
1.  The trade offs in performance expressed by various aviation experts would seem to make this a not very worthy (even) limited production airframe.
2.  Failure of JSOC to authorize an airstrike on the remnants of the airframe after it was discovered that a large portion remained.
3.  The presence of other airplanes that did not have the same treatment.

Speculation.
1.  I've heard many "Former" Special Ops people state that the SEALs leaving on one helicopter was part of the plan.
2.  The 160th has the best helicopter pilots in the US, if not the world flying for them.  Surely they would have been aware of the issues surrounding performance with landing within the walls of the compound.
3.  They rehearsed this mission several times before (probably in Colorado to simulate the altitude) and would be well aware of the performance issues.

It is my contention that this is simply a hastily designed, special mission helicopter for this one job.  Aviation experts might be chasing ghosts.



UPDATE:

Commenter "me" reminded me that the purposeful crash landing of a helicopter into a compound of a high value target has been done before...Operation Ivory Coast.  Better known as the Son Tay Raid.

3 comments:

  1. It wouldn't be unheard of to leave one helicopter behind after rigging it to blow up. The Son Tay raid, Operation Ivory Coast, had the assault group crash landing in the middle of the prison courtyard in a sacrificial HH-3 Jolly Green.

    If the mission objective is high enough then the price of a helicopter is worth it.

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  2. awesome! thats the historical example i was looking for but couldn't remember.

    thanks.

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  3. No prob!

    Wiki actually has a good overview of the operation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_King_Pin but what you want to read is "The Raid" by Benjamin Schemmer.

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