| Aviation Technology Office | |
|---|---|
| Active | Mar. 2, 1981 (as SEASPRAY) – present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Aviation |
| Role | Clandestinespecial 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,Bell 429,Beechcraft King Air,MD Helicopters MD 500 |
TheUnited States ArmyAviation Technology Office (ATO), known asFlight Concepts Division (FCD) before 2017,[1] is a component of the United States Army that provides discreet, sometimes clandestine helicopter aviation support primarily toJoint Special Operations Command.[2] Originally known asSEASPRAY, it was a jointU.S. Armyspecial operations andCIA clandestine aviation unit[3][4][5][6] established in 1981, and later integrated as the covered air component (E Squadron) ofDelta Force.[7]
The unit provides highly specialized flights for special operations forces during covert and clandestine missions, and also has ableeding-edge development role, leading research in emerging technologies for Army aviation.[1] Officially part of the U.S. Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate, the unit is located atFelker Army Airfield along theJames River onFort Eustis,[8] and has been described as "the best of the very best"[9] and "one of the most secretive U.S. military aviation units known to be in existence today."[10]
| External images | |
|---|---|
 Modified Bell 407s attributed to ATO depart in formation Note the military communications arrays equipped on each. |
Through its various incarnations, the unit's history has been described as "intertwined" with many other covert elements of the U.S. Army including theIntelligence Support Activity, as far back as the 1980s.[2] The U.S. Army established SEASPRAY on March 2, 1981, in conjunction with the CIA, to perform the Army's fixed-wing and rotary "covered air" mission, which involved moving personnel and materiel under civilian cover.[7] SEASPRAY, operating under the cover name "1st Rotary Wing Test Activity", originally served as the covered air counterpart to the Army's non-covered Task Force 158, which would later evolve into the160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.[7] Unlike TF 158, which served a purely military role, Seaspray was able to move CIA personnel as well as military.[7]
Thecompany-sized unit was initially equipped with unmarkedHughes 500D helicopters which were modified for their role, and was based atFort Eustis in Virginia.[6] The unit later also acquired nineCessna andBeechcraft King Air fixed-wing aircraft.[7] In line with typical CIA practices, these helicopters and aircraft were not included in the official register of U.S. Army aircraft and were instead registered as belonging to a company called Aviation Tech Services.[5] In addition to allowing the unit to operate under civilian cover, the structuring allowed for a limitation of liability against SEASPRAY.[11]
SEASPRAY established a base atTampa, Florida to support its operations in Central America.[5] SEASPRAY has also been reported to have assisted the CIA to "obtain, exploit and spoof foreign aircraft and technology".[12] The existence of SEASPRAY did not become publicly known until 1985.[6] Though not initially under the control ofJoint Special Operations Command,Michael Smith's 2011 bookKiller Elite states that SEASPRAY was placed under the control of theIntelligence Support Activity (ISA) at an unspecified date and was used to covertly transport ISA, CIA, Delta Force andSEAL Team Six personnel;[13] by 1989 it had become absorbed intoDelta Force, becoming the unit's "E Squadron".[7]
In the 1990s, E Squadron was known to the wider military under its cover name, "Flight Concepts Division". It also had several cover and code names including "Latent Arrow".[7] By 2017, the organization's cover identity had been renamed to the Aviation Technology Office.[2][14][15]
The activities of the ATO and its predecessor entities are highly classified; with little public information. In April 1981 a SEASPRAY helicopter flew Lebanese Christian leaderBachir Gemayel from Cairo to Lebanon as the first stage of a trip to the United States.[6] From 1982 until 1985 SEASPRAY fixed-wing aircraft conductedsignals intelligence sorties overHonduras.[16] In the early 1980s the Army rejected a proposal from the CIA that SEASPRAY aircraft be used to follow small aircraft which were potentially being used to smuggle weapons fromNicaragua toEl Salvador. The CIA conducted this operation using civilian aircrews instead.[16]
Flight Concepts Division was believed to have provided two modified Little Bird helicopters during theBattle of Mogadishu.[17] The unit also reportedly led the development of thestealth variant of theSikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter used inthe raid onOsama Bin Laden's compound inAbbottabad, Pakistan.[10]
In December 2001, Russian authorities arrested a group of contractors reportedly working for the Flight Concepts Division in the city of Petropavlovsk, where they were allegedly trying to surreptitiously buy Mi-17 transport helicopters for operations in Afghanistan.[18][2]
Aircraft reportedly flown by the unit by country of origin:
Next was Seaspray, a joint Army/CIA aviation unit that specialized in deep penetrations with specially rigged helicopters.
And, they said, there were similar problems in a Special Operations unit code-named Seaspray, which flew aerial reconnaissance missions in Central America for the CIA and the National Security Agency.
In March 1981, Longhofer's unit went operational. The Army and the C.I.A. agreed to set up a special aviation company, called Seaspray.
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