Why There's Not Much Left of That Lost Helicopter

A sidenote to the Bin Laden op: via Aviation Week, one reason the damaged helicopter was pretty thoroughly destroyed before the team left is that it was apparently a highly secret stealth version of the Blackhawk: an Av Week blog reports:

Well, now we know why all of us had trouble ID'ing the helicopter that crashed, or was brought down, in the Osama raid.

It was a secretly developed stealth helicopter, probably a highly modified version of an H-60 Blackhawk. Photos published in the Daily Mail and on the Secret Projects board show that the helicopter's tail features stealth-configured shapes on the boom and tip fairings, swept stabilizers and a "dishpan" cover over a non-standard five-or-six-blade tail rotor. It has a silver-loaded infra-red suppression finish similar to that seen on some V-22s.

No wonder the team tried to destroy it. The photos show that they did a thorough job - except for the end of the tailboom, which ended up outside the compound wall. (It almost looks as if the helo's tail hit the wall on landing.)

This could have something to do with the fact that Pakistani air defenses didn't apparently detect the operation.

Sometimes, Who Dares, Loses: the SAS Gets Caught

Just over a week ago I did a "Who Dares, Wins" post about the British SAS' successful extraction of oil workers from Libya. Lest I be accused of enabling SAS mythology, I should note the massive screwup they've apparently delivered the British government this time round. What's fair is fair, and when you roll the dice, sometimes you lose. And unlike Mission Impossible, the Director can't always disclaim all knowledge of your operation.

Admittedly, the operatives involved fell into the hands of friendlies, instead of the bad guys, so they're already on their way home on a Royal Navy ship instead of being Qadhafi's prize trophy hostages, but they still screwed up. Here's a rather detailed account of the mission that seems pretty credible. A Guardian account here. And, for more fun, the always entertaining Daily Mail has its account, the web version interspersed with many totally irrelevant photographs, but what the heck.

Who Dares, Wins: SAS Pulls Oil Workers Out of Libya

Britain has mounted an air rescue of British oil workers from Libyan oilfields, in a mission organized by the Special Air Service (SAS), Britain's special operations elite. If we're to believe the Daily Mirror, it was organized using SAS veterans now working as security guards in the Middle East.

The SAS, whose motto, "Who Dares, Wins" seems appropriate here, is returning to the place of its birth: it came into being in the North African campaign in World War II (early SAS troops at left), raiding deep into Libya behind German and Italian lines, along with the Long Range Desert Group. Pioneers of special operations, they are now serving a much reduced Britain, but they still dare, and seem to have won again.