A Special Operations Black Hawk performed a “hard-deck landing” on the USNS Red Cloud off Okinawa, Japan.
Seven military were injured after an MH-60M Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the U.S. Army’s 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) performed a “hard-deck landing” on the USNS Red Cloud, 20 miles off Okinawa, Japan.
Aerial footage broadcast by several media outlets showed the helicopter (coded “63”) with part of its tail broken off: screenshots posted on Social Media (special thanks to @AbraxasSpa) shows that main and tail rotors were covered, most probably to hide some details (maybe noise reduction devices and other interesting sensors) of the Special Operations helicopter.
Warning: Graphic video shows Black Hawk helicopter exploding.
On Jun. 22, a Colombian Army Black Hawk helicopter exploded in a rural area of Teorama municipality.
Out of the 15 soldiers on board the UH-60L chopper, four were killed and six wounded after the Black Hawk landed in a minefield reportedly laid by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) group.
According to the information released by local media the helicopter belonged to the Army’s 33rd Mobile Brigade.
A clip filmed with a smartphone shows a formation of Special Ops helicopters at work north of Baiji in Iraq.
Although the quality of the footage is pretty bad, the clip in this post, filmed by Iraqi forces north of Baiji, Iraq, is extremely interesting.
It shows a formation of four U.S. MH-60 and two MH-47E choppers, followed by two more Black Hawks, flying at very low level during a mission somewhere in Iraq.
The helicopters belong to the US Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) “Night Stalkers”, a Special Operations unit that has been quite active in the region since August 2014. More recently, the 160th SOAR took part in a “daring” raid to kill ISIS high level operative Abu Sayyaf, in eastern Syria.
Here below you can find a couple of screenshots:
Noteworthy the helicopters are not flying under the cover of night: returning from a raid or heading towards the target?
What’s the type of helicopter hidden below a protective cover?
A reader sent us this photo he took from his car of a helicopter being moved on trailer not far from Sikorsky plant in Stratford.
Here’s what the reader wrote to describe the scene he witnessed on Jul. 30:
“[…]. The reason I took a picture of this is that I’ve seen them put UH-60’s without covers on trailers, and this time, there was a convoy of probably 4 hummers and 2 deuce & a half’s I saw in the vicinity, as well. It was unusual – especially at 1545 on a Wednesday.”
Even though the chopper is hidden below a protective covering, its shape can be guessed: based on the position of the tail boom in relation to the cabin and the tail boom angling we can say it has something in common with the U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk.
“I’ve seen and experienced how they transport aircraft/inventory that is most likely categorized at the SCI level – They get about 20 DoD Dodge Chargers with take downs and spot lights on everywhere, they shut down every on/off ramp for about 5 miles in front and behind the cargo, and set up a “dome of light” so it’s difficult to see the angles of the “cargo”.”
So, is it a UH-60?
Most probably, yes. Still, we can’t exclude is a mock-up, a movie prop or something else.
Eight combat helicopters belonging to four different air arms have taken part in a multinational mission over Kosovo. And here are some interesting shots.
The pictures in this article were taken on Jul. 12, by Cpt. Rory J. McCarthy, a UH-60 pilot who flew aboard an Mi-171 during a multinational multi-helicopter mission which included two Croatian Mi 171sh, one Swiss AS-532 Cougar, one Slovenian AS-532 Cougar, and four U.S. UH-60/A Blackhawk choppers.
The mission was flown to prepare the aircrews to operate with troops on board, to fulfill a tactical exercise requirement KFOR, the NATO-led international peacekeeping force, has in Kosovo.
As a part of the NATO Multinational Task Force, KFOR helicopter detachments support a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement Kosovo wide. On order, Croatian, Slovenian, Swiss and U.S. helicopters work together to move 90 Crowd Riot Control (CRC) equipped troops Kosovo wide on short notice.
In addition to troop transport, select helicopters are equipped for MEDEVAC (Medical Evacuation), fire fighting, airborne and SPIES (Special Patrol Infiltration and Exfiltration System) operations.
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