Are the helicopters in Zero Dark Thirty real?

Are the helicopters in Zero Dark Thirty real?

The Bin Laden raid Black Hawks were said to be based on the special operations MH-60 airframe. However, the helicopter seen in the photo is clearly a heavily modified Sikorsky EH-60 variant, though it’s not clear if it is an EH-60A or EH-60L version.

What kind of helicopter was used in the Bin Laden raid?

Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks
The raid on the compound of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 utilized what appeared to be two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks, heavily modified for quieter operations and employing stealth technology to be less visible to radar. Furthermore, various nations have stated their ambitions to introduce their own stealth helicopters.

What happened to the helicopter in Abbottabad?

According to the Commission’s findings, by 1:06am, the US operation in Abbottabad was over, and US forces left the compound in a stealth Black Hawk and a Chinook helicopter, simultaneously destroying the downed stealth Black Hawk with planted explosives. The operation lasted approximately 36 minutes.

How much is a Blackhawk helicopter?

The unit cost of the H-60 models varies due to differences in specifications, equipment and quantities. For example, the unit cost of the Army’s UH-60L Black Hawk is $5.9 million while the unit cost of the Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk is $10.2 million.

Are Blackhawk helicopters silent?

Wreckage of the tail rotor shows, that this helicopter uses smaller blades. Also the tail rotor is shielded by disk. It looks like noise of this helicopter easily blends into any background noise. The helicopter is so silent, that adversaries might not even react, until it is too late.

Did a helicopter crash during bin Laden raid?

One of the first hiccups was the accidental crash landing of one of two SEAL helicopters as they arrived at the compound at approximately 12:30 a.m. local time (3:30 p.m. EST). The disabled chopper, which lay in an animal pen, was later blown up after the successful capture of Bin Laden.

How does stealth helicopter work?

A directional antenna sends out a high power beam of radio waves, and then waits for the radio waves to reflect off of something and come back to the antenna. A reflection tells the radar unit two things. First, the radar unit learns how big the object is based on the amount of reflected energy that comes back.

Why did helicopter crash during bin Laden raid?

We may never know the real cause, but the most-reported reason was that the aircraft entered vortex ring state, also known as settling with power. Viewed from inside, it’s a little like parachute mode in a light aircraft; a wobbly state of slow settling.

What happened to Osama bin Laden family?

Overall, his family did not fare well. Three sons were killed by the United States, and one daughter died in childbirth while on the run. The three wives with him when he was killed were imprisoned in Pakistan for a year after his death, and one wife and seven children were held in detention in Iran for a decade.

What went wrong with the bin Laden helicopter?

The Pentagon is still investigating the problem in the bin Laden raid, but the helicopter was not damaged by enemy fire, said one defense official, who was not authorized to speak on the record. Officials said it suffered mechanical failure.

Are Black Hawk helicopters connected to the black ops raid?

Black Hawk helicopters are made by Sikorsky, which is part of Lockheed Martin, and Doug Birkey, the executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, sees a possible connection between a canceled Boeing-Sikorsky helicopter program called Comanche and the retrofitted helicopters of the raid.

Why did the Black Hawk helicopter crash?

One retired military helicopter pilot said the Black Hawk likely ran into an issue called “settling with power,” when high temperatures, a heavy load and high altitudes force an unplanned landing. “Those conditions just suck the RPM out of the rotor,” he said.

Did you know that the US once employed stealthy helicopters?

That the US employed stealthy helicopters that hadn’t been previously acknowledged to exist until that day was fascinating even for people who don’t consider themselves to be aviation geeks. Even more thrilling was that the wreckage of one of them was left behind after it crashed.