Osama Bin Laden Raid: Pakistan Hints China Wants a Peek at Secret Helicopter
Pakistani officials said today they're interested in
studying the remains of the U.S.'s secret stealth-
modified helicopter abandoned during the Navy SEAL
raid of Osama bin Laden's compound, and suggested
the Chinese are as well.
The U.S. has already asked the Pakistanis for the
helicopter wreckage back, but one Pakistani official
told ABC News the Chinese were also "very interested"
in seeing the remains. Another official said, "We might
let them [the Chinese] take a look."
A U.S. official said he did not know if the Pakistanis
had offered a peek to the Chinese, but said he would
be "shocked" if the Chinese hadn't already been given
access to the damaged aircraft.
The chopper, which aviation experts believe to be a
highly classified modified version of a Blackhawk
helicopter, clipped a wall during the operation that
took down the al Qaeda leader, the White House said.
The U.S. Navy SEALs that rode in on the bird
attempted to destroy it after abandoning it on the
ground, but a significant portion of the tail section
survived the explosion. In the days after the raid, the
tail section and other pieces of debris -- including a
mysterious cloth-like covering that the local children
found entertaining to play with -- were photographed
being hauled away from the crash site by tractor.
Aviation experts said the unusual configuration of the
rear rotor, the curious hub-cap like housing around
it and the general shape of the bird are all clues the
helicopter was highly modified to not only be quiet,
but to have as small a radar signature as possible.
The helicopter's remains have apparently become
another chip in a tense, high-stakes game of
diplomacy between the U.S. and Pakistan following the
U.S.'s unilateral military raid of bin Laden's compound i
n Abbottabad, Pakistan, more than a week ago. The
potential technological advancements gleaned from
the bird could be a "much appreciated gift" to the
Chinese, according to former White House
counterterrorism advisor and ABC News consultant
Richard Clarke.
Officials at the U.S. Department of Defense declined to
comment for this report, and a senior Pentagon
official told ABC News last week the Department would
"absolutely not" discuss anything relating to the
downed chopper. Several Chinese government
officials in the U.S. and in China were not available for
comment.
U.S. officials have not officially disclosed any details
on the helicopter, but President Obama said it was a
"$60 million helicopter," in a report by The
Washington Post. While the price tag on normal
Blackhawks varies depending the type, none cost
more than $20 million according to the latest
Department of Defense procurement report.