New Sikorsky S-97 Raider similar to the mysterious Stealth “Osama Bin Laden raid” helicopter?

This week, Sikorsky is expected to start the assembly of the S-97 Raider helicopter prototype.
The helicopter, among the choppers pitched for the U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout program, to replace the Army’s aging fleet of OH-58 Kiowa Warriors, in use since the late 1960s, features a futuristic shape (compared to that of current helos) and is based on Sikorsky’s X-2 technology.
The S-97 will be a high-speed helicopter with coaxial main rotors and pusher propeller with a capability to either accomodate six troops or sensor in addition to the two pilots in the typical side-by-side cockpit.
The image of the first fuselage, released by Sikorsky, brings to light some interesting details about the Raider and a loose similarity with the MH-X Stealth Black Hawk helicopter exposed by the Osama Bin Laden raid.
Not only the Raider’s nose section is compatible with the concept I developed with AviationGraphic’s Ugo Crisponi in 2011 but the new chopper features a retractable landing gear is a feature that we thought was among the things that could keep the MH-X stealth and silent.
Most probably the MH-X (whose shape remains unknown) is different from the S-97, however it is safe to believe tha Sikorsky has embedded some of the features developed for the secret, radar evading U.S. Army Stealth Black Hawk used by the Navy SEALs at Abbottabad in May 2011, in the new chopper pitched to the Army.
theaviationist

Pakistan faults self in bin Laden hunt

Pakistan says its senior political and military leaders are to blame for not detecting Osama bin Laden’s presence in the country and then failing to respond when U.S. forces moved into Pakistani airspace to kill him in 2011, according to a government report that became public Monday.
washingtonpost

Secret move keeps military records on bin Laden raid in the shadows

The country's top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defence Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public.
The secret move, described briefly in a draft report by the Pentagon's inspector general, set off no alarms within the Obama administration even though it appears to have sidestepped federal rules and perhaps also the Freedom of Information Act.
news.yahoo

Official E-mails Detail Osama bin Laden’s Sea Burial

Details of Osama bin Laden’s sea burial have emerged after the Associated Press obtained internal e-mails between U.S. military officials as part of a freedom of information request.

The e-mails, which were heavily blacked out, mark the first public disclosure about the al-Qaeda leader’s burial and highlight the intense secrecy surrounding the mission.

Bin Laden was killed in a raid in Pakistan on May 1, 2011 by a team of Navy Seals. One e-mail sent on May 2 described how bin Laden’s body was prepared: it was washed in an Islamic ritual of ablution, wrapped in a white sheet and then put in a weighted bag. Other cryptic e-mails made reference to bin Laden’s body, calling it “the package” delivered by “Fedex.”

No sailors on the USS Carl Vinson watched as Islamic rites were read and the al-Qaeda leader’s body was dropped into the ocean, according to the e-mails, which also detailed religious rites.

“A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker,” read an email sent on May 2 from Rear Admiral Charles Gaoette. “After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased’s body slid into the sea.”


Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/22/official-e-mails-detail-osama-bin-ladens-sea-burial/#ixzz2Czrxb7z4
time