Latest news with #SpecialOperations
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Secretive Russian-Made Mi-17 Helicopter Makes Unusual Appearance In Tucson
Residents of the Tucson, Arizona area were startled earlier this week by a group of helicopters, including at least one Russian-made Mi-17 Hip, making very low nighttime flights as part of what turned out to be a U.S. military exercise. This kind of domestic urban training is not uncommon, especially for U.S. special operations forces, and often comes at least as a surprise to bystanders. However, this instance is notably out of the ordinary in that the helicopters look to belong to a particularly shadowy unit. Imagery of the helicopters flying over Tucson first began to emerge on social media on the night of June 17-18. The Pima County Sheriff's Department subsequently confirmed to local media that the helicopters, one of which was an Mi-17 with an overall gray paint scheme, were affiliated with the U.S. military. The grounds of an abandoned school were used as part of the training exercise. Why are these helicopters flying around the south side this low and with no lights? And being followed? Escorted? Been over an hour. What is happening?? @whatsuptucson @TmzTucson @DanMarriesKOLD @Mary_reports @kgun9 @KVOA @KOLDNews @Tucson_Police — Brianna 8A (@Brianna8a) June 18, 2025 — Dan Marries (@DanMarriesKOLD) June 19, 2025 — Dan Marries (@DanMarriesKOLD) June 19, 2025 'The only thing I knew was that there was a lot of noise, flash bangs, helicopters, personnel, lights, sirens, that type of stuff,' Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, who was apparently unaware that this week's exercise was set to occur, told KOLD News 13, a local CBS-affiliated television station yesterday. 'From my understanding, we didn't even train. We were just there to assist the DoD in their training efforts.' 'When he looked into it, he found out his SWAT team facilitated the location with the Department of Defense to use solely for their training weeks ago,' KOLD's report added. 'I will not blame DoD. I will not blame South Tucson. This was on us. We could easily have said, use our location (elsewhere) at 10 p.m., I don't understand what the thinking was there.' Nanos apologized for the lack of communication with the public and pledged not to let a similar incident happen in the future. TWZ has reached out to the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. military for more information. As it turns out, an additional video, seen below, was posted on Instagram on June 17 showing what looks to be the same gray Mi-17 flying together with a trio of Bell 407 helicopters just outside Tucson. There was also a sighting of an identical-looking Hip at Pinal Airpark northwest of Tucson earlier this month. For all those wondering what's flying around lights off around Tucson last night. 3 ATO Bell 407s trailed by their Mi-17 flying yesterday near Tucson, Arizona. The grey Mi-17 was also spotted at the local airport. — Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) June 19, 2025 I've compiled information on the DoD training that occurred in Tucson, AZ on the 17th of June into a briefing document on my Obsidian is written with a focus on the involvement of the Army's Aviation Technology Office and their use of — galangalroot (@bayardsurveyor) June 20, 2025 Whether or not it may have been a factor in the lack of advance notice to the public or Sheriff Nanos about the exercise, the gray Mi-17 seen during the exercise is a dead ringer for Hips tied to a highly secretive U.S. Army element known as the Aviation Technology Office (ATO). Previously known as the Flight Concepts Division (FCD), ATO is headquartered at Felker Army Airfield, which is part of Fort Eustis in Virginia. In addition to gray-painted examples, ATO-linked Mi-17s have also been seen painted tan and wearing a tan-and-brown camouflage scheme. These helicopters have a distinctive configuration that includes a nose-mounted weather radar, a sensor ball turret under the right side of the cockpit, supplemental armor panels around the front, a large particle separator in front of their engine intakes, and various antennas on the fuselage and tail boom. From FB: "This was taken by a friend of mine who works at Pinal Airpark a week and a half ago it is an MI-17 Helicopter that is operated by the US Government. DOD to be exact. The helicopter came in broad daylight and is flying out of Pinal for these exercises" — lecrayon (@lecrayon11) June 19, 2025 ATO is understood to operate several Bell 407s in a configuration that aligns with what can be seen in the recent video shot outside Tucson. Both types were notably seen together at a farm in North Carolina back in May 2021 after the Mi-17 made an emergency landing there. The Bell 407 brought in additional personnel and repair parts to get the Hip airborne again, as you can read more about here. In January 2021, Bell 407s likely belonging to ATO had also been spotted flying around Los Angeles and other nearby locales, conducting what appeared to be urban training that included touch-and-goes on helipads on top of a number of buildings. TWZ reported on those sightings at the time. — Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) January 12, 2021 Gray-painted Mi-17s with the same general configuration were also spotted in North and South Carolina in separate instances last year. Aviation Unicorn Alert Earlier today I might have heard through the grapevine that this ultra rare Soviet designed Russian MI-17 was coming by @iFlyCAE so I grabbed the camera with only about 2 minutes to spare and went out to sure enough catch it on — ☈ Chris Jackson ☈ (@ChrisJacksonSC) October 2, 2024 A mysterious Soviet-era transport helicopter unexpectedly landed in a field in Eldorado, North Carolina. Several men with backpacks disembarked and headed into the nearby woods, leaving the Mi-171E1 (20-2131) behind overnight. H/t @jcameronmcso. — Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) August 13, 2024 As already noted, U.S. special operations forces, in general, regularly train in and around cities and towns across the United States, including for air assault missions. Doing so offers valuable real-world opportunities to hone important skill sets that cannot otherwise be replicated to the same degree with dedicated urban training facilities. This includes the fact that these are 'live' locations full of real hazards and neutral bystanders. At the same time, poor and/or short-notice communication with the public, as well as more serious screwups, have caused controversy around these kinds of training events, which can also involve automatic guns firing blank rounds and simulated explosive devices, on multiple occasions in the past. When it comes to ATO (and FCD before it), specifically, it remains one of the most secretive aviation units within the U.S. military. From what is known publicly, it specializes in providing discreet aviation support for covert and clandestine operations, and also has a bleeding-edge developmental function. For instance, ATO/FCD is understood to have been involved with the development of the stealthy derivatives of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter employed during the 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that led to the death of then-Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. It is worth noting here that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also has a long history of operating Mi-17 variants, including through various secretive contractors. CIA-linked Hips were very visibly active as part of evacuation operations in Afghanistan after the fall of the capital Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. We found (and corroborated with flight data) that one of the Mi-171E helicopters was inadvertently captured in a livestream by @MARCATV, a Spanish news outlet, as it flew from HKIA to the CIA compound toward the compound on Aug. 20. — Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) September 1, 2021 Other less secretive elements of the U.S. military also make use of contractor-operated Mi-17s, as well as other foreign fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, for training and evaluation purposes. The Hip is in widespread use globally in a wide variety of configurations, including heavily armed transport types. It is a design American forces regularly encounter in service with allies and partners, and that is also part of the potential threat picture for operations worldwide. Still, the particular features of the gray Mi-17 seen this week in the Tucson area, together with the Bell 407s, point most strongly to ATO. Whether or not more details emerge about the recent urban training exercise in Tucson, Arizona, the participants in this case look to have been particularly unusual. Contact the author: joe@
Fox News
2 days ago
- Fox News
Emily Compagno, Superstar Co-Host of "Outnumbered", Highlights The Inspiring Work Of K9 Hurricane's Heroes
Co-host of 'Outnumbered' and host of 'The Fox True Crime Podcast' Emily Compagno joins Fox Across America host Jimmy Failla to shed light on the important work of K9 Hurricane's Heroes. Emily recalls one of her favorite memories of K9 Hurricane, a former Special Operations Canine of the United States Secret Service who passed away earlier this year. Take a listen to the interview below: Listen to full episodes of Fox Across America below:
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wallace Chadwick wins GOP primary, making him Chesapeake's presumed next sheriff
CHESAPEAKE — Police officer Wallace Chadwick is poised to be Chesapeake's fourth elected sheriff following unofficial results of the Republican primary election Tuesday. No other candidates filed to run as Democrats or independents in the race, so the GOP primary effectively decides the winner of the 4-year term. The sheriff's office handles jail security, courthouse security, civil enforcement and the school resource program, among other duties. With all 64 precincts in Chesapeake reporting around 10 p.m., Chadwick earned 7,300, or 58%, of the total vote. Rosado received 5,242 votes, or 42%. Tuesday's results don't include provisional ballots, which will be tallied as part of the canvassing process throughout the week before results are finalized Monday. Cheers and claps could be heard from dozens of supporters around 9:20 p.m. at Lockside Bar and Grill in Chesapeake as Chadwick, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and current lieutenant and executive officer of the police's Special Operations Division, declared victory. Chadwick said he ran to challenge a longstanding tradition in the Chesapeake Sheriff's Office of passing the torch to leadership, and also to give deputies more of 'a voice.' Among his first duties once assuming the role in January is to begin healing the divisions within the party. Fellow Republicans at the state and local level were divided in their support of the candidates. 'I started this campaign with three things: transparency, accountability and leadership,' Chadwick told supporters in a victory speech Tuesday. 'And those are the three things that we will start with on day one with this Republican Party and with the Sheriff's Office. We're going to put things back together where they should be.' Rosado could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night. But earlier in the night around, Rosado addressed his dozens of supporters at his watch party at Standard Calibrations Inc., disappointed that the votes weren't looking in his favor. 'There's no doubt that we did everything that we could,' Rosado said. 'We did it with integrity. I did not, would not, and will not compromise my integrity.' Rosado took the reins in November to fulfill the remaining term for former Sheriff Jim O'Sullivan, who retired after more than a decade. Rosado worked in the Chesapeake Sheriff's office for more than 20 years and became the city's first Hispanic undersheriff in 2022. In the office, he's overseen jail operations, expanded the school resource officer program for elementary schools and led anti-bullying initiatives for students. Immigration enforcement and cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was at the heart of one of Hampton Roads' most divisive primary faceoffs — with Rosado insisting the city has been following all ICE best practices, and Chadwick arguing Rosado only began holding inmates on ICE detainers after he criticized Rosado's office for not doing so. Chadwick told The Virginian-Pilot Tuesday night that he'll continue to follow all laws regarding immigration detainers. 'I am honored to have all of you here tonight to support me and to take a chance on a police officer from the police department for your next sheriff,' he said. Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133,
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine says it hit Russian MiG-31, Su-30/34 fighter jets following attack on airfield
A Ukrainian strike allegedly damaged two Russian military aircraft — a MiG-31 and either a Su-30 or Su-34 fighter jet — at an airfield used to launch Kinzhal missile attacks, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on May 9. The extent of the damage is still being assessed, the military said. Ukraine's overnight strike targeted the Savasleyka airfield in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, which the Kremlin uses to launch MiG-31K jets armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, according to the General Staff. The operation was conducted by Ukrainian Special Operations Forces in coordination with other units. The strike happened as Russia launched a massive attack on Ukrainian cities overnight on June 9. Recently, Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian military aircraft, which Moscow often uses to target civilian infrastructure. Earlier this month, Ukrainian drones destroyed dozens of Russian strategic bombers and surveillance aircraft in a series of attacks dubbed Operation Spiderweb. On June 1, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) used smuggled first-person-view drones to strike four Russian airfields: Olenya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo, and Belaya. The SBU said 41 aircraft were damaged or destroyed, including heavy bombers and rare A-50 spy planes, causing an estimated $7 billion in damage. Footage of those strikes, released by Ukrainian officials on June 4, showed direct hits on key Russian aircraft. Ukrainian officials say such operations aim to limit Russia's ability to launch missile attacks against Ukrainian cities. Read also: Operation Spiderweb — everything we know about Ukraine's 'audacious' attack on Russia's heavy bombers We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- CTV News
Military training in Oro-Medonte, Ont.
A Canadian soldier takes part in an exercise on Thu., Oct. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Oro-Medonte residents are being cautioned by the Canadian Armed Forces that personnel from the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command will be training in their area from June 8 to 11. Residents will see military vehicles and equipment, as well uniformed and non-uniformed army personnel. A press release by National Defence said, 'By training in unfamiliar environments, personnel become increasingly skilled and adaptable, allowing them to serve the national interest wherever they operate.' Additionally, the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command states that it appreciates the support of local landowners and the understanding of community members as they conduct this valuable training.
