UFO War: Chinese and US Navy off San Francisco

UFO War: Chinese and US Navy off San Francisco

You have GOT to read this article and make up your own mind about it.  Meanwhile, I'll be waiting on SHADO HQ and SkyDiver 1 to save the planet yet again from the invading UFO menace.

Susan Katz Keating: Year of the Keel-Haul, Extended-V: Is the Cowpens ...

Susan Katz Keating: Year of the Keel-Haul, Extended-V: Is the Cowpens ...: Holly? I thought you were.... gone! What is going on with the USS Cowpens ? Is the ship jinxed, or what?

Stealth Helicopters Used in bin Laden Hit

Aside from the news on May 2nd that the US Navy SEAL Team 6 finally bagged Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This raid, by accident; revealed some new US technology that we REALLY didn't want the rest of the world to know about just yet.

But,you know, when Murphy's Law get involved, accidents happen. Such is the case with one of two stealth helicopters used in that May 2, 2011 raid. Associated Press and European Press Agency photographers manage to get pictures of pieces of the wreck before Pakistan forces picked them up, and trucked them off. No doubt - to China.

As to what the final appearance of the helicopters look like - leading contender is a upgraded, stealth-optimized MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. And that goes along with what CIA director Leon Panetta's assertion of May 3rd that the 25-man strong strike team was "carried in two Blackhawk helicopters that went in."

By the way, this blogger thinks there was a backup helicopter - just in case that there was problems with one of the other mission helicopters. One Blackhawk cannot carry 25 troops/crew, plus their weapons. There had to be something else to get the entire team plus the down helicopter crew out of that compound.

Sean Naylor of Army Times backs up this conclusion. Naylor quotes a retired Special Forces aviator saying the special Blackhawk, modified by Lockheed Martin, had the hard edges similar to the F-117 stealth fighter (also from Lockheed Martin).

Also, there is no doubt in my mind that these aircraft were flown by the pilots of the 160th Special Operations aviation regiment. They get some of the nicest toys to play with.

What this blogger found amushing was the following paragraph from the Wired article that I got this information from. quote: According to a source who spoke to our own Spencer Ackerman, the modifications might have taken place with the help of a mysterious Army organization called the “Technology Applications Program Office,” located at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The rumored nickname? Airwolf. That’s right, like the cheesy ‘80 TV show. end quote.

Hey, I'm a big Airwolf fan! Hell yeah if this baby is finally shown off to the public - I'm all for it to be the official name for this helicopter.

Aviation artist Ugo Crisponi produced a quick rendering of what the secret chopper (and that was included in the wired article). Then from Globalsecurity.org, John Pike talked about the "MH-X" project from the 1980s.

Elements from the RAH-66 Commanche project appeared to have made their way over to this new MH-X "Airwolf." The Commanche was killed off in 2004. It might actually ahve been a cover project for this MH-X project and was no longer needed - so that is why the Commanche was killed off.

Going by the Wired article, these special helicopters are not very many in numbers. In fact, they operate out of "Area 51" in Nevada.

Aviation Weeks's Bill Sweetman stated the following: the fact that the Pentagon was willing to risk its most secret whirlybird “shows the importance of the mission in the eyes of U.S. commanders." end quote.

The world's FIRST radar-evading helicopter proves that the USA still has the lead when it comes to designing helicopters - no decay there.

Our Special Forces has the ability to now strike fast and most important; unseen - all over the world.

MH-X Airwolf. I like the sound of that.

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Ref.

1. Wired.com. "Aviation Geeks Scramble to ID bin Laden Raid’s Mystery Copter" by David Axe. May 4, 2011. (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/aviation-geeks-scramble-to-i-d-osama-raids-mystery-copter/).

2. Wired.com "" by David Axe. May 4, 2011. (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/aviation-geeks-scramble-to-i-d-osama-raids-mystery-copter/3/).

3. images from the same articles (Reuters, Associated PRess), artwork by David Cenciotti.

4. Flight Gobal. "Secret helicopter revealed in bin Laden op?" by Stephen Trimble. May 3, 2011. (http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/05/secret-helicopter-revealed-in.html).

USS Independence - The Tri-Hull Monster of the Gulf!

The 418-foot long USS Independence is one of two prototype ships for the Littoral Combat Ship contract. This one was built by the General Dynamics consortium. And it went out on a little cruise into the Gulf of Mexico this week.

Most striking feature of this ship is it's tri-hull configuration. But both ships (Independence and the Freedom built by Lockheed Martin) both have water thruster propulsion. And with this latest test, the Independence reached 52 mph! Impressive for a ship of this size. That's 45 knots for you Navy types out there! And it was doing so in 6 to 8 foot swells and against a headwind of 30 knots. And the USS Independence did this for a sustain rate of speed for four hours. Normal cruising speed for normal warships is suppose to be in the 30-35 knot range.

Both ship designs use very powerful diesel engines plus gas turbines for that extra boost of speed. (I have to wonder if the skippers of these ships will start calling this "Warp Speed" when they have the throttle pushed to the wall?). Both the Independence and its competitor - the USS Freedom, have shallow drafts that let them get in closer to shore than regular naval vessels.

Main mission selling point by both companies right now seems to be pointing out how these ships can go up against the pirate threat. Whether its Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics that ultimately wins the contract - the U.S. Navy will have 55 of these speedy ships. Expected costs per vessel is in the $220 million dollar range.

This class of ship has multiple mission modules that can support anti-submarine, mine sweeping, or traditional surface warfare. Both designs have helicopter flight decks on the stern to operate helicopters.

From this blogger's personal opinion, I hope that the Navy goes with the USS Independence. I wonder if John Paul Jones is looking down from Heaven and saying, "That is a fast ship going in harm's way!"

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Ref. WAVY.com news, October 22, 2009. AP news article by David Sharp (http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/military_ap_mobile_New_warship_tops_out_at_over_50_mph_20091022).

Reaganite Republican Resistance.blogspot.com article "The Navy's New Pirate Vaporizer" (http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/2009/10/navys-new-pirate-neutralizer.html)