Bullet-proof helicopters play key border role

[Up2Late]

Source: Reuters

Bullet-proof helicopters play key border role

Sun Sep 9, 2007 9:10pm ET

By Tim Gaynor

TUCSON, Ariz (Reuters) - Pilot Rich Rouviere gazes through night vision goggles as he speeds the Black Hawk helicopter to where a high-tech drone far above has pinpointed 11 intruders from Mexico. As he sets the aircraft down in a swirling tornado of dust and debris, two agents in military style fatigues and flak jackets jump out and swiftly round up all but two of them, illuminated by a laser from the drone. From alert to arrest, the operation has taken 17 minutes.

Welcome to a little known double act between spy planes and fast, military helicopters that is blazing a trail for the future of U.S. border security in a remote desert wilderness south of Tucson, Arizona.

The Predator B Unmanned Aerial System, or drone, has been at work in Arizona since 2005, scouring the borderlands for drug traffickers and illegal immigrants from Mexico using high-powered cameras tucked on to its belly.

Silent and cloaked in darkness as it wheels miles above the desert, the spotting system cues elite tactical teams in Black Hawk helicopters to race in and carry out arrests, often many miles from the nearest highway....


Read more: http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-09-10T011006Z_01_N07313987_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-IMMIGRATION-BLACKHAWK.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2

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Gosh, who know we had "Bullet-proof helicopters?"

Man, I bet those things would really come in handy (along with their crews) in Iraq, patrolling the Iraqi Boarder, huh?

[EFerrari]

1. It gets better. The corporatists f#ck with democracy in Latin America

so they can line their pockets sacking their resources.

Then, they have the secondary gain of cheap undocumented labor and now, voila!, "border security".

You have to hand it to them.

[lapfog_1]

2. In an ironic twist, many of the engine parts for these helicoptors

were outsourced to a factory in Mexico.

(could be true, wouldn't surprise me)

[Up2Late]

3. kick n/t

:kick:

[jmowreader]

4. Parts of the Blackhawk are indeed bullet-resistant

Best not to say "bulletproof"--eventually the drug smugglers and the coyotes are going to hit the black markets in search of old Soviet 57mm antiaircraft guns, which WILL fuck up a Blackhawk.

But yeah, there's armor plate in the crew seats and around the mechanical components of the aircraft, and the fuel tanks are made from armor plate then filled with nitrogen for extra protection.

[Up2Late]

5. Yes, saying anything, these days, is "bulletproof" is usually a mistake...

...so, how do these hold up against ground fire from AK-47s???

[benEzra]

6. The AK-47 fires a pretty small cartridge...

lined up against civilian rifle cartridges, it's the least powerful of all .30 caliber rounds (even .30-30 Winchester), unless you count .30 Carbine as a "rifle cartridge." AFAIK, the H-60's armor is probably good against it. You can't armor the whole airframe due to weight reasons, but you can at least protect the engines, transmission, and tail rotor shaft/gearbox.

In Somalia, the Blackhawks that crashed were brought down by RPG's, not by small arms, even though several of the others got shot up pretty badly (possibly by heavy machineguns) and had plenty of fluid leaks as a result.

There are large-caliber hunting and target rifles that could likely perf a Blackhawk's armor, but then you get into the realm of trying to hit a moving target with a precision rifle.

Most civilian helicopters are completely unarmored (many could be brought down by a .22 in the right place), so while the H-60 is not "bulletproof" as the article implies, it's definitely more bullet-resistant.

[jmowreader]

7. Exceptionally well

Considering that it will survive getting shot by an antiaircraft gun firing explosive projectiles, getting shot by a rifle firing bullets is no problem.

Of course, if the "ground fire" goes through the windshield or the chin bubble (taking out the pilots), into the 45-degree gearbox in the tail (making the helicopter go out of control), or into the tail rotor itself, all bets are off.