The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Aviation Technology Office (ATO), known as Flight Concepts Division (FCD) before 2017, is a component of the United States Army that provides discreet, sometimes clandestine helicopter aviation support primarily to

Joint Special Operations Command The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a joint component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged with studying special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equip ...

. The unit provides highly specialized flights for special operations forces during covert and clandestine missions, and also has a bleeding-edge development role, leading research in emerging technologies for Army aviation. It is a part of the infrastructure of covert special operations airlift more secretive than the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, joining at least three other units across the services and within JSOC itself: the joint Aviation Tactics Evaluation Group (AvTEG), and the Air Force's 66th Air Operations Squadron and

427th Special Operations Squadron The 427th Special Operations Squadron is a specialized, covert unit of the United States Air Force. After reporter Andreas Parsch filed a Freedom of Information Act request, the Air Force told him the unit "support training requirements ... fo ...

. Part of the U.S. Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate, the unit is located at Felker Army Airfield along the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

Fort Eustis Fort Eustis is a United States Army installation in Newport News, Virginia. In 2010, it was combined with nearby Langley Air Force Base to form Joint Base Langley–Eustis. The post is the home to the United States Army Training and Doctrine ...

, and has been described as "the best of the very best" and "one of the most secretive U.S. military aviation units known to be in existence today."

History

Little is known of the history of the unit because of its inherent secrecy, however it is often reported to have emerged out of the lineage of the unit known as SEASPRAY, as well as sharing connections with the former aviation component of

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

, Echo Squadron. Through its various incarnations, the unit's history has been described as "intertwined" with many other covert elements of the U.S. Army including the

Intelligence Support Activity The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA), frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity (ISA), also known at various times as Joint Reconnaissance Evaluation Group (JREG), Mission Support Activity (MSA), Office of Mi ...

, as far back as the 1980's.

Activities

The unit reportedly led the development of the stealth variant of the

Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System ( ...

helicopter used in the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Aircraft

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Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...

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Bell 407 The Bell 407 is a four-blade, single-engine, civil utility helicopter. A derivative of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger, the 407 uses the four-blade, soft-in-plane design rotor with composite hub developed for the United States Army's OH-58D Kiowa W ...

Hughes 530F The MD Helicopters MD 500 series is an American family of light utility civilian and military helicopters. The MD 500 was developed from the Hughes 500, a civilian version of the US Army's OH-6A Cayuse/Loach. The series currently includes the M ...

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Alenia C-27J Spartan The Alenia C-27J Spartan is a military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Leonardo's Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi until 2016). It is an advanced derivative of Alenia Aeronautica's earlier G.222 (C-27A Spartan in ...

References

{{Reflist Divisions of the United States Army

History

Activities

Aircraft

References

See also