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Here is a nice artist rendition of what it might look like. Makes sense from a low observable technology perspective. It will reduce its signature but not eliminate it. The 5 or 6 bladed tail rotor reduces noise as it has to rotate less to develop the same amount of lift/thrust. The "frisbee" shield over the gears and joints masks the highly reflective metal shafts and hinges. All the windows would also be flat panes and layered with gold or another metal matrix within the glass so that radar waves would not enter the cockpit or fuselage and bounce off the unstealthy interior and return back out the window. A flat reflector will minimize the direction from which it can be seen minimizing the odds of detection.

Kind of funny that that UAV on the intel website looks like the Horten wing jet fighter that the Germans built at the end of WW2... :)
 
Here is a nice artist rendition of what it might look like. Makes sense from a low observable technology perspective. It will reduce its signature but not eliminate it. The 5 or 6 bladed tail rotor reduces noise as it has to rotate less to develop the same amount of lift/thrust. The "frisbee" shield over the gears and joints masks the highly reflective metal shafts and hinges. All the windows would also be flat panes and layered with gold or another metal matrix within the glass so that radar waves would not enter the cockpit or fuselage and bounce off the unstealthy interior and return back out the window. A flat reflector will minimize the direction from which it can be seen minimizing the odds of detection.

Kind of funny that that UAV on the intel website looks like the Horten wing jet fighter that the Germans built at the end of WW2... :)

From a low observable perspective it would seem to me that this design <broken link removed>
would have it in spades over a conventional tail rotor like what was apparently used. The NOTAR is also far quieter than the conventional. I was present at the airborne law enforcement event when this technology was introduced. It was remarkable.
I have seen a civil version flying over PDX every now and then (actually saw one yesterday). They are very quiet.
 
Here is a nice artist rendition of what it might look like. Makes sense from a low observable technology perspective. It will reduce its signature but not eliminate it. The 5 or 6 bladed tail rotor reduces noise as it has to rotate less to develop the same amount of lift/thrust. The "frisbee" shield over the gears and joints masks the highly reflective metal shafts and hinges. All the windows would also be flat panes and layered with gold or another metal matrix within the glass so that radar waves would not enter the cockpit or fuselage and bounce off the unstealthy interior and return back out the window. A flat reflector will minimize the direction from which it can be seen minimizing the odds of detection.

Kind of funny that that UAV on the intel website looks like the Horten wing jet fighter that the Germans built at the end of WW2... :)

So what you're saying is we need to replace our tin hats with these type windows?
 
I believe the boys destroyed the helicopter.Only the tail fell on the other side of the wall,so that's all they get.

According to the blogger (follow the link) there is a major amount of top secret tech in that tail section that didnt get demoed.
The chi coms, who are cozy with the Pakis would give plenty for it.
Remember the F117 that was shot down in Bosnia? Well, apparently the pentagon wanted very badly to bomb the remains of that aircraft. They couldnt do it because of the civilians swarming over the wreckage. Well those little pieces DID make their way to China and this is the result of that is the Chinese apparently getting pretty close to fielding their own stealth fighter.
From what I have read, just the coating/paint on that piece of helo are way advanced and could allow our rivals to make a huge jump technologically speaking.
 
NOTAR is good but would also require a major redesign of the H-60 airframe to accomplish. In the NOTAR, it is not just the ducted fan but the tail boom is an airfoil and is pressurized with air which is vented through slots to create sideforce. I also talked to a pilot who flew a NOTAR and regular MD-530 types and he said the rudder is not as responsive on the NOTAR and he preferred the bladed tail rotors. I doubt if you will see these helos mainstreamed as it would be very spendy to convert other H-60 platforms in quantity. Like the original F-117 stealth fighters, these are special mission aircraft built in limited numbers. Eventually, they are going to get around to slashing the defense budget and high tech toys are the first to go...
 
NOTAR is good but would also require a major redesign of the H-60 airframe to accomplish. In the NOTAR, it is not just the ducted fan but the tail boom is an airfoil and is pressurized with air which is vented through slots to create sideforce. I also talked to a pilot who flew a NOTAR and regular MD-530 types and he said the rudder is not as responsive on the NOTAR and he preferred the bladed tail rotors. I doubt if you will see these helos mainstreamed as it would be very spendy to convert other H-60 platforms in quantity. Like the original F-117 stealth fighters, these are special mission aircraft built in limited numbers. Eventually, they are going to get around to slashing the defense budget and high tech toys are the first to go...

I have heard that about the responsiveness issue. I suppose it is all about finding a ballance between that responsiveness and observability. There is also a safety factor i think. Some of the demo videos I have seen show a NOTAR gacking its tail boom directly into some trees with no ill effect.
Either way, its all fascinating technology to me. Cant wait to read details about how all this went down.
 

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