LIBYA LATEST - NATO ATTACK HELICOPTERS TO ENTER COMBAT ZONE

SMN report

It’s something of a helicopter time at the moment - the stealth machines used in the bin Laden raid, a possible European-issue NH90 stealth-design, and now the news that British Army WAH-64D Apache AH1s have been ordered into North Africa, operating from the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean, in joint operations with French Eurocopter Tigers. 

British Army Apache at RAF Fairford.

BIN LADEN STEALTH AGAIN - THIS TIME A SCIMITAR-BLADE MH-47 CHINOOK

SMN report

The expert Italian aviation team of David Cenciotti and Ugo Crisponi have got together again to visualise a type of helicopter that Cenciotti thinks could also have taken part in the bin Laden raid in Pakistan.

Modifications to the Chinook

Like Crisponi’s visual of the MH-60, this Stealth-Chinook depicts many similar features of such a machine, including smoothed and faceted nose and air intakes, but the Chinook's signature fuselage sponsons are shown here modified with a similar treatment. The rotor heads have discs to cover the complex connection assemblies, and the blades themselves are spectacular hooked scimitars. 

Good starting point for a stealthy build.

BIN LADEN RAID STEALTH HELICOPTER - DOES NATO HAVE A ‘GADDAFI GRABBER’ READY TO FLY?

SMN report

After news of the secret US stealth chopper that crashed during the bin Laden raid, and the previous NATO bombing of Colonel Gaddafi’s villa in Tripoli, Libya, it struck us that maybe - just maybe - there might be a European-issue stealth helo flying quiet and unseen through the night skies. We had a close look at likely candidates and reckon that the NH90 military helicopter fits the bill pretty well. It has a composite fuselage, a fairly stealthy faceted fuselage, retractable landing gear, and enough room to carry a fully-equipped SAS snatch team.

Revell 1:72 scale NH90 kit box.