Is This The Navy’s Secret Helicopter?

Ever since SEAL Team 6 blew up its downed, stealth Black Hawk, aviation geeks around the globe have been trying to figure out what the hell it was. One flight expert has gathered the clues and created this detailed rendering.

David Cenciotti, the brain behind the sketch, has serious credentials: he’s a former member of the Italian air force, current private pilot, computer engineer, and journalist. With the help of Ugo Crisponi, an artist at Aviation Graphic, we might have a better understanding of what whisked the commandos in and out without Pakistani interference (beyond a few photos of a severed tail rotor). It’s still a drawing, of course, but here it’s easier to appreciate the strange tail rotor, and the sleek, streamlined stealth chassi – particularly compared to the standard Black Hawk underneath. We’re eager for more details to surface on this mystery bird, but I have a feeling the Pentagon wishes the whole thing had been blown to bits.

[David Cenciotti via FMCNL]