4K GOPRO AVIATION B-ROLL - US Navy MH-53E "Sea Dragon" AN/AQS-24B stream and recovery, 08Dec20

GoPro Hero 9
4k aviation B-roll footage
Tuesday December 8 2020
US Navy MH-53E "Sea Dragon"
Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fifteen (HM-15)
AN/AQS-24B tow operations over the Arabian Gulf
Footage courtesy of AWS1 Brad Caldbeck (@bradcaldbeck)
This video contains unclassified information on the MH-53E “Sea Dragon” helicopter. Viewpoints or opinions expressed, if any, do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the United States Navy. This video shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or the United States Navy.

[@paulscheinberg2414]

WOW!! Reminds me of days deployed Flight Surgeon with HM12 (Airborne Mine Countermeasures Squadron) 1973-1976 flying RH53D’s. Those guys (pilots and aircrews) were the REAL pioneers, tasked with developing complex, unproven, and highly dangerous procedures, all to assure safe passage of shipping in high risk areas.

[@deansaid937]

There is gotta be a better way of deploying and recovering this gadget. Iam a retired engineer and these two brave souls looks like two rough necks on an oil rig deck except that there are a few hundreds feet up on a bouncy hilo (without the pay or safety concerns bless our mil).

[@RobertoRMOLA]

I've never seen anything as complicated and dangerous for a crew as this! Air operations require more agility and uncomplicatedness to make things more efficient and safer. Considering that this is a sonar for searching for enemy submarines under the surface of the water, I believe that such complication and slowness put the helicopter in a vulnerable situation.

[@AKorigami]

lt is a mine abatement device...

[@RobertoRMOLA]

@@AKorigami For mine, yes. For "abatement"(?), no: according to manufacturer (Northrop-Grumman) it is a sonar and laser scanner.

[@Sanwizard1]

Maybe make it wireless? Duh?

[@greggszyp7371]

I feel for the crewmwmbers having to struggle as much as they did. It didn’t appear to be lack of training on their part. Rather a pita design.

[@darrenrichings4091]

Some old 53's that prolly need replacing and updating,Vanguard deployed with us to the Persian Gulf on the USS TRIPOLI where i was ABH3 yellow shirt (spot 7/8) back in 91when wee found a mine the wrong way.All those minesweepers on deck and the dang navigator drove us right into one blowing a 20 ft by 30ft hole under the waterline.Loudest alarm clock i ever had but would do it all over in a heartbeat .

[@photo01aviation]

I miss the Dragon too.. A fun machine!

[@hammerslamper4125]

Oh yeah I was heading out that way.

[@lolmaemae]

It’s cool to see this in action. I do maintenance on the gear shown where I’m stationed, but I’ve yet to see it in ops inside. Pretty cool!

[@photo01aviation]

Thank you for all your hard work keeping our AMCM gear safe for flight!!

[@cgstever91]

i used to maintain that gear cool to still see it in action

[@tylerbuckley4661]

The hms 53s are my favorite helicopter thank you for posting this the first time seeing a sea dragon hms 53 was in the mid eighties at scottsdale airfair at scottsdale municipal airpark the pure size of the helicopter fascinated me and sitting inside it was the highlight of my day thank you again for posting this the helicopter i i seen was stationed at naval air station Moffit outside of frisco

[@supercruise-6814]

I have not seen anything so poorly engineered for the deployment and recovery of a Sonar (l assume) device EVER. I am embarrassed that Chinese and Russians are seeing such POOR LEVELS OF TECHNICALLY being used by the U.S. Navy!!!!!! EMBARRASSING !!! I dare say that a team of College Seniors graduating with mechanical engineering degrees could ABSOLUTELY design something FAR FAR BETTER AND SAFER, FOR THE EQUIPMENT AND THE HUMAN ASSETS than this piece of junk. The WHOLE SITUATION was DANGEROUS ..... for the likelihood of damaging EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT . . . AND, for the EXCELLENT LIKELIHOOD of a service member getting seriously hurt or disabled! That whole situation is a medical claim in the making. This video was EYE OPENING . . . in a VERY NEGATIVE WAY !!! _____________________

[@dalewright3667]

Looks easy doesn't it?? What could possibly go wrong? Extremely Dangerous mission you, can slip and get tangled up. Or fall from 165 ft into the ocean Navy its not a job its an adventure

[@davidcoffelt7364]

A very demanding mission, I would volunteer for full set 103’s all day over a Q as Ramp. Stay safe Blackhawks!

[@5oclockshadow2]

F that noise! God I hated 103s! Swinging floats, twisted lines, cancer chisels. No thank you.

[@sterlingarcher4989]

Holy crap, that is some ‘mandrolic’ stuff right there. Them boys earn their money - respect.

[@photo01aviation]

Our aircrewman work mighty hard to stream and recover the Q!

[@americanazheck]

Go Navy! I was attached to vf 171 det key west in the late 70s during the Cuban boat lift. I hitched a ride on a marine ch 46 and navy ch 53. Those were the days y'all.

[@gianpaolovillani6321]

The MH-53 and Ch-53 helicopters are beautiful, and I want them to be back in operation for many more decades. They must never be unnecessarily replaced by the king stallion!

[@mikeoxhardt5312]

Says the man who’s never had the displeasure of working on them

[@jeremybassett4362]

Yeah okay buddy. Try maintaining them.

[@almostdk]

@@jeremybassett4362 lolololol Heard that

[@barrackb0325]

Hope you are always evolving and trying new things when it comes to this. I’m surprised someone who invented this contraption did not take into consideration “prop wash”. For what it’s worth I’d trade trolling that thing for a helicopter ride any day. Go Navy!!!

[@jonash6070]

i know i'm just an armchair pilot ignorant to all the facts, but this process seems rather clumsy, unsafe, and overly complicated. I appreciate what their trying to do but there must be a way to simplify this process. Can someone explain why its being done like this?

[@thejuicef5]

It’s really not that complicated once you’ve done it a few times. There are a few hazards but we have controls in place to minimize anything going wrong. Plus it’s fun. There is probably a way to simplify it, like having it all go out at the push of a button, but that would cost a ton to develop and that’s just more things that can go wrong.

[@bfarm44]

Because it isn’t broken, don’t fix it

[@markboyles8019]

This is a relatively simple stream. If you can find a video of a mark 103 minesweeping equipment stream, that's a lot more involved.

[@joebrumfield2952]

Someone needs to go back to drawing board on this whole fubar system!

[@HighBanker]

This is too cool love to see more videos like this wild to see what you all do .. thanks

[@fixitwithfire6430]

Aircrew: We got the wings like that from MCM.

[@GeorgeGross]

Fascinating - thank you for your service!

[@blackhawkone5558]

Hooray! Blackhawks miss my squadron. Keep up the good work!!!

[@photo01aviation]

Once a Blackhawk, always a Blackhawk!

[@archiejohnson4594]

Would love to see a MK 103 stream

[@dennisunderwood9549]

Recovery was kickin his ass...

[@ubroberts5541]

Our enemies are evil and trying to take us down. Keep up the great work boys!

[@koc988]

This looks incredible, wonder who designed the capture and release system.

[@danig75]

6th grade students for a county science fair

[@aqueousone]

Looks like some of Rube Goldberg’s work.

[@danielcarlson800]

Sikorsky

[@Spiewick]

Is this me or does this look like they are fishing for some sort of Kraken or Kaiju? 😂 JK on a serious note this is high level stuff. One wrong move that goes past serious safety protocols and ....

[@JasonKutchma]

As others have stated this is a really embarassing and clumsy design. That guy having to lean out and launch by hand while it swings around is not great.

[@malekodesouza7255]

The launch looked pretty straightforward…but the retrieval was a shit show.

[@Devil3R]

Draggon your asses into the sea is what this thing will do...F that. Good luck guys.

[@tom95521]

I hope that helo has a hover in place autopilot. The pilots must get bored hovering.

[@johnthomas425]

Try easy fwd 2 kts once the fish comes out of the water. Keep the davit out 1 wingspan until stable and level w/cradle. Roll back the davit , set the catch. Great job. Stay safe

[@photo01aviation]

Good times..

[@penelopelgoss2520]

OMG! Holy heck. That was a nightmare watching him attempt to recover the equipment. Is it always so hard?

[@photo01aviation]

@@penelopelgoss2520 The aircrew featured in this video did an exceptional job recovering the gear both safely and without wasting any time. To the untrained eye it can look dangerous but this video is a great example of how it’s done!

[@markboyles8019]

Reading out of your NOTOPS? I miss it.

[@smalltownrifleman]

That piece of expensive tech is FUBAR for sure after that.

[@michaelashby9654]

Gotta keep the US borders wide open. Thanks!

[@bobby_D]

Vote Republican

[@1chuck96]

MAN !!! Please don't as old as I am, (70) as I can't tell what I'm looking at. Perhaps a scroll across the bottom of the screen would be of benefit. EXCELLENT STUFF THOUGH AND GOD BLESS YOU . Jim Grant

[@timking2822]

A rube goldberg mechanism. Could they have designed something more difficult?

[@markboyles8019]

LOL, they did.

[@hieronymusjacabusprincepso5060]

That process is terrible. Guy nearly falls out getting device to release, wires everwhere. The whole thing needs simplification.

[@JuanSanchez-ik7wx]

this operation is a total cluster fk

[@lawrencemartin1113]

Seems a pretty haphazzard way to recover the equipment to back on board....must be a better design to stop all that flailing arpund and having to re-winch out and back in...?

[@angelf3365]

That water is so blue

[@savannablade5078]

❤❤

[@MultiBloxx]

Clown show

[@gregorydahl]

They say no machine can replace the mind numbing pace of manual drudgery as this

[@UKAviationMovies]

Cool! Love the MH-53 😎👍

[@michaelhager9889]

That’s my old squadron. 89-92

[@Sovietpeopl]

Похоже, они хотели тунца поймать троллингом , на обед 🙈🙈

[@jamesmowl5320]

Just another day.... Stay safe Brothers

[@daveblevins3322]

Interesting, but needs some redesign I believe.

[@vasyapupkin2933]

Биба и Боба в армии)

[@philliplopez8745]

Hell of a way to make a living !

[@angelf3365]

It’s about time .

[@timanderson5543]

That is 1 piece of equipment we did’nt have.what does it do?if you can tell me without killing me.😉

[@photo01aviation]

AS/AQS-24B sonar

[@jimcunningham6899]

Miss those days!

[@photo01aviation]

Me too..

[@patrickfoster6268]

Good seeing you here Jim. Go Vangaurd! So many memories and miss this job so much. I was just showing one of my daughters this video.

[@jefferyhubbard3532]

wow

[@timanderson5543]

Anybody step on that ramp and end up streamed i.e. dangling by thier gunners belt?

[@photo01aviation]

I'm sure it could happen, but I have not heard of it

[@Gatorgetfresh]

My first job in the navy and I hated it 😂 super dangerous! Respect these guys and gals out there doing god’s work 🙏🏽

[@photo01aviation]

Thanks for your service and keeping us flying!

[@penelopelgoss2520]

It looks REALLY dangerous when the equipment is so out of control. Isn't there a better way? Holy cow!

[@markboyles8019]

I loved it. That's a fairly easy stream. You must have REALLY hated -103 streams.

[@madmike5621]

Things have changed a little since I flew ... we deployed the "Squeaky 14" then but the setup was similar.

[@photo01aviation]

AN/ASQ-24C is coming soon..

[@penelopelgoss2520]

@@photo01aviation Will it be safer to deploy and recover?

[@photo01aviation]

@@penelopelgoss2520 The Charlie is essentially the same towed body as a Bravo, just slightly longer.

[@penelopelgoss2520]

Archaic delivery and recovery. So much for that 110K plus piece of equipment banging all over the place. True insanity whoever developed the recovery system. Truly sad. The individual who is actually attempting to physically recover the equipment is obviously to me in a situation to become injured multiple times throughout the recovery process. God bless the teams who spend their days training deploying and recovering these systems.

[@photo01aviation]

Perhaps the video makes streaming and recovering the Q look a little more dramatic than it truly is, but the hard work and highly realistic that our skilled aircrew put in prepare them well for the job. While many jobs in military aviation are certainly dangerous, the entire AMCM community has made towing the AN/AQS-24B sonar a highly safe and effective task so we can keep the sea lanes clear!

[@BigShastaKen]

LOL....110K isn't even close. Trust me I know first hand. It's also built for this environment.