Some Of Us Can Add

I was reading Ulsterman looking for dirt on Obama (more on that later) when I came across this interesting comment about the Osama bin Laden raid.

justavet
Posted May 14, 2011 at 10:12 am

ULSTERMAN- LOVE THE INSIDER INFO- ASK HIM ABOUT THIS. SOME OF CAN ADD.

LOAD OF CRAP. The operation “as propagandaized”(?) was impossible for even my military brethren to carry out. Look at the reports.

After the (super secret) UH60L Blackhawk went down they all boarded the other (super secret) Blackhawk Helo. Let’s look at some facts about the Blackhawk:

General characteristics of UH60L Blackhawk Helicopter.

Crew: 2 pilots (flight crew) with 2 crew chiefs/gunners
Capacity: 2,640 lb of cargo internally, including 14 troops or 6 stretchers
Fuselage width: 7 ft 9 inches.

According to WHITEHOUSE reports the second Helo would have to have loaded 4 current crew plus 4 from downed Helo plus 24 or 25 SEAL’s that is a total of 32. Figuring an average weight of 200 pounds per trooper weight 6,400 pounds. Add to that gear plus dead body equals another 3,500 pounds plus dog/ 80 pounds plus collected intel/ 100 pounds. total 10,080 pounds in a Helo that has space for 14 and internal cargo capability for 2,640.

Can you say B as in B and S as in S?

That was bothering me (and that “helicopter” thing that looked more like a big drone – but I’m not up on helo design, those might have been stealth modifications) but I didn’t look up the UH60 specs.

The UH-60 features a four-blade main and tail rotors and is powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines. It has a long, low profile shape to meet the Army’s requirement for transporting aboard a C-130 Hercules. It can carry 11 troops with equipment, lift 2,600 lb (1,170 kg) of cargo internally or 9,000 lb (4,050 kg) of cargo (for UH-60L/M) externally by sling

Let us look a bit further – 11 troops with equipment. And yet the raid was reported to have 24 sailors involved.

The operation was carried out by a 24-man platoon from the Naval Special Warfare Developmental group – known as DEVGRU – based out of Dam Neck, Va. It’s a group specifically dedicated to high-risk counterterrorism operations and assigned to the Joint Special Ops Command at Ft. Bragg. (It’s predecessor was the storied “SEAL Team Six”.)

Well maybe not all sailors. But us Navy guys have such reputations as wusses (always getting beat up by Marines) that I thought a little exaggeration was warranted. In case you had wondered about interservice rivalry. Sailors are smarter than Marines. And a few sailors are tougher. OK. Mostly kidding. Semper Fi Mac.

Cross Posted at Power and Control