The secret origins of America's STEALTH Black Hawks

The world got its first glimpse of America's stealth Black Hawk helicopters after the remnants of a tail section were left behind by Navy SEALs following the Bin Laden raid in 2011... but the history of these exotic and highly classified rotorcraft date back much further than that.

In fact, the secret origins of America's stealth Black Hawks even predate the F-117 Nighthawk entering service...

Here's PART 1 of our dive into these highly classified stealth helicopters.

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Citations:

[unknownuser]

That feeling you mentioned having when you saw the rotor. I had it too.

I worked a little on Comanche. Mostly declassing and printing materials for presentation on The Hill.

I had it again when you mentioned Have Glass ... which I did not know was something we could talk about.

A google later and I see that apparently the entire planet knows, but for a bit I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out of their sockets.

Thank for the excitement I guess.

Good work telling a neat story.

[iray]

In 2007 while serving on an Aircraft Carrier, there were 2 helicopters that looked like the Comanche but with a tail section like those seen in the crash recovery photos. They landed at night and access was highly restricted to the exterior of the ship. I was part of the security detail that secured access the the hanger bay where these aircraft were being kept. We were given strict instructions not to turn toward the hanger hatches when authorized personnel entered or existed the hanger.

[mikedrop]

Been waiting 12 years for this video to drop. Ever since the raid I've been dying to know the whole story!

[MeerKatReport]

Great piece, I can't wait to hear the rest! I'm a former Army Black Hawk pilot and I was surprised how deeply I enjoyed the HD Air Assault and formation clips. After a while in civilian life, sometimes I forget how cool it was to be around that.

[randalljones]

I live about 25-30 miles south of McMinnville, OR, out in the hills.
One night, around 2006-8-ish, the quiet darkness of midnight was pummeled by a deep/low thump-thump-thump shaking the house.
I stepped out and couldn't *hear* ANYTHING, but the clear night sky showed a dark shape passing over directly overhead, blocking out stars, with a few very small lights visible from open side bays.
Not more than 300 feet overhead (I'm at 500 feet elevation, with the local max hill at 650 ft).
Just a big, dark hole in the sky, passing overhead, kinda lozenge shaped.
Stepping back inside, again I could hear the thump lessen as the shadow slowly moved on.
I waved.
Evergreen Helicopters was in McMinnville at the time. And I know for a fact that certain employees there would blanch pale as a ghost when I mentioned my 'silent helo' story.

[piotrd.]

19:50 - nah, even when F-117 was designed, Lockheed conducted studies on visibility and turned out that dark gray will be most versatle one, even at night. USAF demanded pitch black because 'reasons' and actually Nighthawks could be spotted in moon light as patches of moving darkness.

[MRptwrench]

Ol' lower enlisted 0311 here, but what I witnessed was the AH-1 SuperCobras (2 blades) beating the air into submission, then either CH-47 or CH-51 would come in for a pickup, and you wouldn't hear it until you saw it. And they were much larger, louder engines. The Cobras you could here and feel beyond the hills! More blades=less bass thump.

[-sv]

In the bin Laden raid, the stealth helicopter entered its own rotor wash, referred to as rotor vortex ring state, and lost lift. It happened because the walls around the compound were 18 feet high when they were expected to be less than half that. That affected the ability of the helicopter to hover. The pilot, from the 160th, did do a great job keeping the helicopter vertical, rather than falling over and dumping everyone out.

[PaulXMann]

Having grown up with Airwolf as my favorite TV show, I was thrilled when I found out the company my mother worked for was involved in the Comanche project. I'd pour through the trade pubs featuring the Comanche anytime she'd bring one home. I was saddened to learn one day that the Comanche was axed, but seeing it live on in some other form--particularly as a contributor to the demise of OBL--provides a bit of satisfaction at how it all worked out.

[nchance]

Finally, somebody has finally put it together. I worked on the RAH-66 engine development team (T800). Don't let the history books fool you, the RAH-66 was deemed a success, and everybody on the project knew the truth. I think it was a little "too good", which is why we are all discussing what Sikorsky did with the program.

[NNICKKK]

Alex I dont know if you'll see this, but thank you. Your content is peerless and so enjoyable. Im just a civilian av geek with a particular interest in helos, and have been waiting for this level of rigor on the reporting of this since the world learned about the stealth blackhawk, when my jaw dropped along with every other av geek, let alone service personnel at the time. More power to you and all you create, its excellent and i love every minute of the uploads 🤘👍

[jasony]

Comanche Gold. I loved that game as a kid. Always a choice between going loud with extra munitions or quiet with just the internal payload and fancy flying (trench run mission). Some missions just begged for dozens of hydra rockets.

I 100% could see the lessons learned from the Comanche was leveraged into a stealth transport helicopter.

[topiasr]

I remember when this channel first started. I thought the early videos were highly mediocre, on telling us what we already knew --- little did I know what the channel would become!! This was fantastic! Excellent job researching and explaining in an easy to understand manner!!

[jasonsomething]

Love the Black Hawks with all the variants!
I thank you for this series you started as I know it will be informative but my favorite is from the Vietnam ERA!
The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (the flying egg) was involved in a few CIA clandestine where the chopper was modified and was labeled the "QUITE ONE". peace

[RazyrDiarmait]

Love the Comanche. Almost as much as the F-35. Would love to fly in one.

[Daniel-qwve]

Tell them I’m not here….Sandboxx is on!

[ericneilson]

My gut turns inside out whenever I learn of these instances. From D-21's lost over Siberia and China, a P-3 Orion given up to China, a RQ-170 recovered by Iran and this incident with the Blackhawk. (Also operation Merlin as a bonus)

[shalashaska]

Can’t wait to hear him leverage the word “leverage” in describing this helicopter.

[drfill]

I remember that day. I also remember the news broadcaster specifically state that the soldiers were brought in by ordinary helicopters. Then the image of the tall section that was anything but ordinary flashed up. I was stunned. So was my brother. It was painfully obvious that there was a toe off helicopter in the us inventory that we did not know about

[pegasusted]

Commanche maximum overkill was a phenomenal game back in the day, loved it.