Like many of you here, I have recently seen the images of the downed helicopter used in the raid to capture/kill Osama bin Laden. I love seeing new
technology! The latest concept cars have always been a favorite. Nothing like seeing the newest Lamborghini or any other far-out concept for that
matter.
To me, the holy grail of super advanced hi-technology is very rarely seen and is almost always developed for use in military purposes.
The aircraft that are developed and used in ultra secret missions are some of the most gaurded secrets that any military can have. It seems to be
about time for some new technology to be dropped in the laps of the civilian world for us to marvel at. Even if it was an accident for us to get our
eyes on, at least a piece of, the newest toys the US military now employs on it's most high profile missions, where success hinges on our troops
having every possible advantage and head start over the enemy.
I was left wanting more from some of the recent information I found about the downed 'stealth' helicopter and decided to do a little searching for
more information on what type of technology these super-secret choppers may use to gain an edge over other military forces, continuing to place the
controllers of this hi-technology at the fore-front of world powers.
Here is what I have found:
Helicopters are loud and maybe more noticeable than airplanes, because they often times fly so much closer to the ground and use blades that are
designed for maximum lift and control. Silent blades have been designed and, according to some of the early CGI images, seem to be depicted as a part
of the new stealth helicpter desing.
SOURCE
Helicopters are so loud because their blades create turbulence as they pass behind one another in their own wakes. The phenomenon is called a
“blade-vortex interaction,” and it makes for that thwop-thwop-thwop sound signature to helicopters.
By changing the shape of the rotor blades — the new product is called “Blue Edge” — Eurocopter has reduced the blade-vortex interaction enough
to allow for a sound reduction of just three to four decibels.
Now that’s quiet.
This revolutionary main rotor blade provides a passive reduction in noise levels, using a double-swept shape that is very different from present-day
blades. The aim of this program is to reduce the noise generated by so-called blade-vortex interactions (BVI), which occur when a blade impacts a
vortex, created at the tip of the blade of any helicopter.
A five-blade Blue Edge main rotor has been flying since July 2007 on an EC155 testbed, logging 75 flight hours and demonstrating noise reductions of 3
to 4 dB, as well as very good performance of the blade. With this safe and simple means of measureable noise reduction for helicopters now validated,
Eurocopter is ready to move Blue Edge into production applications.
Don’t believe it? Here’s a video of the rotors in action:
The recent raid may have also brought out one of the projects that has been tested in years past at the highly secretive Groom Lake Facility, better
known to many as Area 51. The following test reveals a bit more information on this and the full article can be found
HERE - source
Stealth Helicopter
MH-X Advanced Special Operations Helicopter
On 1 May 2011, the United States announced that it had launched an operation into Pakistan from Afghanistan to apprehend Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin
Laden. Bin Laden was killed during the operation, reported to have been conducted by members of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU;
commonly referred to by an older title, Seal Team Six). The Naval Special Warfare operators were reported to have been inserted and/or extracted by
elements of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). During the raid, it was reported that one of the force's MH-60 helicopters was
damaged and had to be destroyed in place. The remnants of the helicopter were later recovered and moved from the site by the Pakistani military.
Subsequent pictures of the wreckage suggested that the helicopter might have in fact been a new type, possibly incorporating stealth technology.
The U.S. Army and CIA developed what could be considered a stealthy helicopter during the Vietnam War. There, they were primarily interested in
reducing the amount of noise that the helicopter generated, and they named the helicopter The Quiet One. Light, quiet and stealthy helicopters could
be used for clandestine missions, quick in-and-out assignments without being noticed. A Special Forces A-Team performing an extraction could grab
their target, climb a rope, and be extracted by a stealth helicopter. Other stealthy helicopter has focued on reducing detectability by radar and
infra-red sensors, including the suppression of hot engine exhaust gases.
In the 1980s, Hughes and other American aircraft manufacturers investigated concepts for the construction of radar-evading "Stealth" helicopters. The
US designed stealthy helicopter-type aircraft. One program was the McDonnell Douglas X-wing. Stealth features of this hybrid craft included using the
stalled blades, when in aeroplane mode, as radar reflectors, and using McDonnell Douglas NOTAR (no tail rotor) technology to eliminate tell tale tail
rotor radar signature. The X-wing project had an unclassified counterpart, which allowed components of the 'black' X-wing to be obtained under
cover.
According to one report, a classified stealth helicopter was being tested at the Groom Lake Air Force base as early as 1990. The code name for the
helicopter as "T.E.-K," standing for "Test and Evaluation Project K." The F-117 stealth fighter was reportedly known as "T.E.-A," and the B-2 stealth
bomber, known as "T.E.-B." The 2/6/95 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology reported that the Air force had a silent NOTAR helicopter and a
stealth helicopter inside Area 51....
OK, so we have the noise from the blades eliminated, which is a major boost to stealth operations, but it isn't truly stealth in the way many military
program experts know stealth. To achieve that type of stealth you need to be able to avoid RADAR.
Below is an image of the RAH-66 Stealth Comanche helicopter. It was canceled in 2004 before ever being used in the field, or so the wiki page
says....
SOURCE
The Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche was an advanced U.S. Army military helicopter intended for the armed reconnaissance role, incorporating
stealth technologies. It was also intended to designate targets for the AH-64 Apache.[2] The RAH-66 program was canceled in 2004 before it was
fielded
Prototype flight testingThe first Comanche prototype was rolled out of the Sikorsky Aircraft's helicopter production facility on 25 May 1995.[7] The
prototype's maiden flight occurred on 4 January 1996.[8] Flight qualification tests and evaluations were conducted for the two DEM/VAL (Demonstration
and Validation Phase) prototypes. Through the early 2000s, the U.S. Army planned to purchase over 1,200 Comanches to fill the scout and light attack
roles, with deliveries of operational RAH-66s beginning in 2006.[9]...
I find the next part interesting, because it is stated that the technology resulting from the testing of this helicopter was to be incorporated into
future choppers;
CancellationOn 23 February 2004, the U.S. Army announced their decision to cancel the Comanche helicopter program in view of the need to provide
funds to renovate the existing helicopter fleet of aging attack, utility, and reconnaissance aircraft.[10] The Army also planned to use Comanche
program funds to speed up unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) development.[11] UAVs have been providing reconnaissance during military operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq. About US$6.9 billion had been invested in the Comanche program at the time of its termination.[1] An additional US$450–680
million was paid for contract termination fees to main program partners Sikorsky and Boeing.[12][13]
Technology developed for the Comanche is expected to be integrated into the Apache and other U.S. military helicopter developments
[citation needed] The Army was developing the Bell ARH-70 to replace the OH-58D in place of the RAH-66, but after cost overruns, the
ARH-70 was canceled in October 2008 as well.
Design
It incorporated stealth features to avoid detection, such as retractable weapon stations and main gun, and stealth faceting and radar absorbent
materials...
The Comanche's very sophisticated detection and navigation systems were intended to allow it to operate at night and in bad weather...
I really wish I had been interested in this BEFORE the recent raid, as the web is flooded with stories about the stealth copter, making it very hard
to find information about the stealth choppers and the technology being developed for them.
The Wiki information seems to be very good however. Many are saying that the chopper was indeed a Stealth BlackHwak, while there are conflicting
reports of some saying it resembled a Comanche type helicopter (I may be mis-remembering this, they either said it resembled a heavily modified Apache
or Comanche)
If it was a Comanche helicopter, could it be the same helicopter that was tested in the early 2000's at Area 51 and presumed to be a cancelled
project?
I hope this gives a bit of information that you may not have seen about the technology going into these choppers.
If you know of other technology that has been/is being developed for use in these state-of-the-art aircraft, please share it in this thread, I would
love to see some of the new stuff that is making it's way into the hands of our troops and ultimately protecting us here at home.
Thank You! to our Men and Women serving overseas and around the world! We love you all and hope for your safe return home to your families
soon!
edit on 5-5-2011 by esteay812 because: add pics, vid and fix tyops
