Fake Stealth Helicopter of The Abbottabad Raid 2011

On 2nd May 2011, a heli-borne force raided a compound in the Abbottabad city of Pakistan for the capture of Osama Bin Laden. After the raid, media showed some pictures of the tail unit of a crashed stealth helicopter (supposedly). Without any solid reason, it was stated that the crashed aircraft was a stealth version of the MH-60 BlackHawk helicopter. Two elements were readily evident from the photos. Firstly a shrouded tail rotor and secondly a forward-swept elevator (use google for images).

 

The 1971 India-Pakistan War : Betrayal or Blunders

If we study the military history of the India (Pre-1947), it would become evident that when faced with failure in war, we have always blamed betrayal and conspiracy instead of learning the right lessons. Be it the defeat of Siraj-Ud-dollah of Bengal (1757), the fall of Sultan Tipu (1799) or the Independence War (1857), we have always blamed triators instead of battleplans, strategy and bad Generalship. A good General should succeed in achieving his minimum objectives despite the risk of betrayal.

Agents, spies and informers are present on both sides and it is so since the time immemorial. From the engineering background, I would say that a General should have a "factor of safety" in his planning. Factor of safety is the extra protection against unforseen factors. To give an example, General Wellington can be quoted, who fought against the French Imperial Army during the Peninsular Wars (1807-1814). Despite the activity of embedded french informers, he succeeded in giving surprise to the French on several occasions.

Frequently-Mentioned Causes of Debacle