US used never-seen-before stealth choppers for Osama raid

US' elite Navy SEALs team used top secret, never-seen-before stealth helicopters to swoop down on an unsuspecting Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in his Abbottabad safe haven and shoot him dead.

One of the secret choppers was disabled during the raid by the SEALs, blowing it up in an apparent bid to ensure that the frontline technology did not fall into non-US hands, US media reports said.

The secret choppers have been kept under wraps by Pentagon and their use for the key mission suggests that the American military planners did not want to take any chances in the high-risk raid.

Pentagon officials are still keeping mum on whether or not stealth choppers were used, but ABC news citing American aviators said that photos of what survived the explosion has sent military analysts buzzing about a stealth helicopter programme that was only rumoured to exist.

Former defence officials say the modified variant of the Sikrosky H-60 Blackhawk features extra blades on the tail rotor allowing it to fly significantly less noisily and also has low-observable technology similar to that of F-117 stealth fighter to enable it to evade Pakistan Air Force detection radars.

The US did not warn Pakistan about the raid for fear of leaks, but the helicopters nonetheless managed to fly to the compound from their base in Afghanistan without the Pakistan military seemingly being alerted.

The choppers appear to have a modified tail boom to a noise-reducing covering on the rear rotors and a special high-tech material similar to that used in stealth fighters.

Top former Pentagon officials say the bird is like nothing they have seen before.

"This is a first," they said. "You wouldn't know that it was coming right at you. And that's what's important, because these are coming in fast and low, and if they aren't sounding like they're coming right at you, you might not even react until it's too late...That was clearly part of the success."

Posted in: Afghanistan,Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden,American military,US'Navy