Yesterday on our last day on the beach at Sandbridge, VA we had an 8-ship formation of some sort of Army(?) Blackhawk helos fly down the beach REALLY low which was pretty damn bad-ass.
I’ve flown in Army Blackhawks and USAF Pavehawks but was not clear what model this was or what service.
What I observed:
-The Army dark gray, almost black color -NO “United States Army” on them that I could see (maybe just not visible to me) No Roundels like USAF/USMC/USN aircraft have. So I’m thinking Army -NO refueling boom -Nose was more squared off looking than any Blackhawk that I’ve ever seen which are normally more rounded off
What was I seeing? I know the area, right near VA Beach and Norfolk is full of military bases and Special Ops.
August 16, 2025, 01:17 PM
smlsig
Don’t ask, don’t tell…
We used to see all sorts of fixed and rotary military aircraft run down the beach of the Outer Banks. Pretty cool.
Our Founding Fathers were men who understood that the right thing is not necessarily the written thing. -kkina
August 16, 2025, 02:13 PM
sigmonkey
"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" ✡ Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא עוד
August 16, 2025, 03:38 PM
texassierra
Other than the one above that is purported to be one the "stealth" Blackhawks used in the Bin Laden raid I've never seen a squared off platform.
I thought this one used by Task Force 160 Night Stalkers was pretty badass. Looks to have just about every gadget and sensor known to man attached.
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August 16, 2025, 07:43 PM
egregore
"The Almighty, He put some livin' things on this earth so a man can eat." - Festus Haggen, Gunsmoke
August 16, 2025, 08:12 PM
FenderBender
quote:
Sandbridge, VA
could be anything, you're close enough to the decision makers to see all sorts of things there.
_____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways."
August 18, 2025, 09:43 AM
PASig
quote:
Originally posted by texassierra: Other than the one above that is purported to be one the "stealth" Blackhawks used in the Bin Laden raid I've never seen a squared off platform.
I thought this one used by Task Force 160 Night Stalkers was pretty badass. Looks to have just about every gadget and sensor known to man attached.
These looked just like the Night Stalker's Blackhawks in those pics but minus the refueling boom. Do they ever fly around without them on? Could have been that.
August 18, 2025, 12:34 PM
Sigmund
USN has (had?) HSC-84 with a Blackhawk variant to support SEAL ops, but it may have been deactivated. From the photos in the link, they did not have refueling booms.
Considering the area you're located in and the various units and agencies around...you probably saw some variant that's a 1-off or merely testing/trying out a new configuration. Most of the birds doing lots of night flying will have a FLIR ball on the nose, perhaps that bird you saw is trying out a radar set-up.
Generally flat-black/dirty-black paint is a SOF-type bird, USN helos are usually light-grey or, ghost-grey.
