Clandestine aviation, rotary aviation development, special operations
Part of
U.S. Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate
Garrison/HQ
Felker Army Airfield, Fort Eustis, Virginia, United States
Aircraft flown
Helicopter
Mil Mi-17, Bell 407
Military unit
The United States Army Aviation Technology Office (ATO), known as Flight Concepts Division (FCD) before 2017,[1] is a component of the United States Army that provides discreet, sometimes clandestine helicopter aviation support primarily to Joint Special Operations Command.[2] 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.[1] Part of the U.S. Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate, the unit is located at Felker Army Airfield along the James River on Fort Eustis,[3] and has been described as "the best of the very best"[4] and "one of the most secretive U.S. military aviation units known to be in existence today."[5]
External images
Modified Bell 407s attributed to ATO depart in formation Note the military communications arrays equipped on each.
^ abTrevithick, Joseph (23 February 2021). "Photo Emerges of Shadowy Intelligence Gathering "Ghost Plane" In Somalia". The War Zone. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
^Trevithick, Joseph (21 March 2017). "Shedding Some Light on the Pentagon's Most Shadowy Aviation Units". The War Zone. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
^"Colonel Ball". U.S. Army Pacific. Archived from the original on 28 February 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
^D'Costa, Ian (19 March 2021). "This is the Army's super secret special ops aviation unit". We Are The Mighty. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
^Trevithick, Joseph (18 September 2021). "Russian-Made Mi-17 Helicopter Flown by Secretive U.S. Unit Lands in Farmer's Field". The War Zone. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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Global Information
United States
United States Army
Modified Bell 407s attributed to ATO depart in formation Note the military communications arrays equipped on each.