By Shyam Bhatia
Farnborough, July 20. This S-70i “utility” version of the Black Hawk, currently produced at a Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky factory in Poland, was parked on the tarmac close to civil airliners like Boeing’s 777 and 737.
Described as one of the one of the most successful military helicopters ever, nearly 5,000 earlier versions of Sikorsky’s S-70/H-60 Black Hawk are in service in more than 30 countries with 15 million hours flown.
US Navy seals using Black Hawks were part of the 2011 Operation Geronimo mission, also known as Operation Neptune Spear, that was led by the CIA, together with Joint Special Operations Command. Others involved included operators from the CIA’s Special Activities Division.
One of the helicopters used in the mission crashed without any casualties but the overall mission was successful. Analysis of the crashed helicopter confirmed it was an MH-60 Black Hawk adapted with previously undisclosed stealth technology that allowed it to evade Pakistani radar as it flew in from across the border in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden’s death ended a decade long hunt for the terrorist mastermind wanted for his role in September 11 attack on the US. In accordance with Islamic tradition approved by religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, his remains were collected in a body bag and dropped in the Arabian Sea.
Following his death, US President Barack Obama told the American people on May 2, 2011, “I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”
In India a Home Ministry statement issued on the same day said, “We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which President Obama said that the fire fight in which Osama Bin Laden was killed took place in Abbottabad ‘deep inside Pakistan’. This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organizations find sanctuary in Pakistan.”
The raid started from a US military base in Afghanistan, 190 kilometres away from Bin Laden’s Pakistani base in Abbotabad.
One of the US military experts currently promoting the Black Hawk is retired Col. Robert Mathers who served with US Special Forces in Afghanistan before being re-deployed as Defence Attache at the US embassy in Kabul.
Later he was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal for his service as the Director of the Eurasian Foreign Area Officer Program and Chairman of the Eurasian Security Studies Department at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies from May 2012 to June 2014.
In an exclusive discussion with India Strategic Colonel Mathers spoke of working conditions in Afghanistan where Afghan militants over the centuries have fought off foreign invaders, including British, Russian and American forces.
“The only foreigners they are afraid of are the Chechens”, Colonel Mathers said.
“I had two “long” tours in Afghanistan (along with many short missions) – in 2011-2012 and 2015-16. First time as International Cooperation for the Nato Training Mission and second time as Defence Attache at the US embassy. Both times I had lots of good relations with the Indian Embassy in Kabul.”
