{{Use American English|date=August 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox military unit | unit_name = Aviation Technology Office | image_size = 270 | dates = Mar. 2, 1981 (as SEASPRAY) – present | country = {{flag|United States}} | branch = {{flag|United States Army}} | type = Aviation | role = Clandestine [[special operations]] | command_structure = U.S. Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate | garrison = [[Felker Army Airfield]], [[Fort Eustis]], [[Virginia]], United States | aircraft_helicopter = [[Mil Mi-17]], [[Bell 407]], [[Bell 429]], [[Beechcraft King Air]], [[MD Helicopters MD 500]] }}
The [[United States Army]] '''Aviation Technology Office''' ('''ATO'''), known as '''Flight Concepts Division''' ('''FCD''') before 2017,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Trevithick|first=Joseph|date=23 February 2021|title=Photo Emerges of Shadowy Intelligence Gathering "Ghost Plane" In Somalia|url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39400/photo-emerges-of-shadowy-intelligence-gathering-ghost-plane-in-somalia|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-31|website=The War Zone|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223233410/https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39400/photo-emerges-of-shadowy-intelligence-gathering-ghost-plane-in-somalia |archive-date=23 February 2021 }}</ref> is a component of the United States Army that provides discreet, sometimes clandestine helicopter aviation support primarily to [[Joint Special Operations Command]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Trevithick|first=Joseph|date=21 March 2017|title=Shedding Some Light on the Pentagon's Most Shadowy Aviation Units|url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/8125/shedding-some-light-on-the-pentagons-most-shadowy-aviation-units|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-31|website=The War Zone|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323194452/http://www.thedrive.com:80/the-war-zone/8125/shedding-some-light-on-the-pentagons-most-shadowy-aviation-units |archive-date=23 March 2017 }}</ref> Originally known as '''SEASPRAY,''' it was a joint [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[United States special operations forces|special operations]] and [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] clandestine aviation unit<ref>{{cite news |last=Bamford |first=James |date=July 3, 1988 |title=Where Secret Armies Clash By Night |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1266003.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911110654/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1266003.html |archive-date=September 11, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |quote=Next was Seaspray, a joint Army/CIA aviation unit that specialized in deep penetrations with specially rigged helicopters.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Weiner |first=Tim |date=February 10, 1987 |title=Covert Forces Multiply, Some Run Amok |url=http://articles.philly.com/1987-02-10/news/26179065_1_covert-action-covert-operations-black-budget |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214050942/http://articles.philly.com/1987-02-10/news/26179065_1_covert-action-covert-operations-black-budget |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 February 2015 |publisher=Philly.com |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="Paglen20092">{{cite book |last=Paglen |first=Trevor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oM8u2198DcsC&pg=PT162 |title=Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World |date=February 5, 2009 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-101-01149-2 |pages=162–}}</ref><ref name="Hersh NYT 19872">{{cite web |last=Hersh |first=Seymour M. |date=November 22, 1987 |title=Who's In Charge Here? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/22/magazine/who-s-in-charge-here.html?pagewanted=all |work=[[The New York Times]] |quote=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.}}</ref> established in 1981, and later integrated as the covered air component (E Squadron) of [[Delta Force]].<ref name=":02" />
The unit provides highly specialized flights for special operations forces during covert and clandestine missions, and also has a [[Emerging technologies|bleeding-edge]] development role, leading research in emerging technologies for Army aviation.<ref name=":0" /> Officially 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]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Colonel Ball|url=https://www.usarpac.army.mil/history2/cosBall.asp|url-status=dead|access-date=2021-09-19 |publisher=U.S. Army Pacific|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228141827/http://www.usarpac.army.mil/history2/cosBall.asp |archive-date=28 February 2013 }}</ref> and has been described as "the best of the very best"<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=D'Costa|first=Ian|date=2021-03-19|title=This is the Army's super secret special ops aviation unit|url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-tactical/160th-super-secret-special-ops-aviation-unit/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-19|website=We Are The Mighty|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418014639/https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-tactical/160th-super-secret-special-ops-aviation-unit/ |archive-date=18 April 2021 }}</ref> and "one of the most secretive U.S. military aviation units known to be in existence today."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Trevithick|first=Joseph|date=September 18, 2021|title=Russian-Made Mi-17 Helicopter Flown by Secretive U.S. Unit Lands in Farmer's Field|url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42409/russian-made-mi-17-helicopter-flown-by-secretive-u-s-group-lands-in-farmers-field|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-19|website=The War Zone|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918061001/https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42409/russian-made-mi-17-helicopter-flown-by-secretive-u-s-group-lands-in-farmers-field |archive-date=18 September 2021 }}</ref>
{{External media|title=External images|image1={{URL| https://www.scramble.nl/images/news/2021/february/USA_US_Army_Bell_407_12-1141_A_Kickapoo_Downtown_AP_TX_USA_2021-01-25.JPG|Modified Bell 407s attributed to ATO depart in formation}} Note the military communications arrays equipped on each.}}
== History == 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]], as far back as the 1980s.<ref name=":4" /> 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.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Naylor |first=Sean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWiWBgAAQBAJ |title=Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command |date=2015-09-01 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9781466876224 |language=en}}</ref> 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 the [[160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)|160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment]].<ref name=":02" /> Unlike TF 158, which served a purely military role, Seaspray was able to move CIA personnel as well as military.<ref name=":02" />
The [[Company (military unit)|company]]-sized unit was initially equipped with unmarked [[MD Helicopters MD 500|Hughes 500D]] helicopters which were modified for their role, and was based at [[Fort Eustis]] in Virginia.<ref name="Hersh NYT 19872"/> The unit later also acquired nine [[Cessna]] and [[Beechcraft King Air]] fixed-wing aircraft.<ref name=":02" /> 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.<ref name="Paglen20092"/> In addition to allowing the unit to operate under civilian cover, the structuring allowed for a limitation of liability against SEASPRAY.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevithick |first=Joseph |date=2018-08-14 |title=This Ghost Of A Helicopter Likely Had A Secret Role In Reagan's 'Tear Down This Wall' Speech |url=https://www.twz.com/22879/this-ghost-of-a-helicopter-likely-had-a-secret-role-in-reagans-tear-down-this-wall-speech |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The War Zone |language=en}}</ref>
SEASPRAY established a base at [[Tampa, Florida]] to support its operations in Central America.<ref name="Paglen20092"/> SEASPRAY has also been reported to have assisted the CIA to "obtain, exploit and spoof foreign aircraft and technology".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ambinder |first1=Marc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bZps0gflR8C&q=SEASPRAY&pg=PT30 |title=The Command deep Inside the President's Secret Army |last2=Grady |first2=D.B. |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1118346723 |location=Hoboken}}</ref> The existence of SEASPRAY did not become publicly known until 1985.<ref name="Hersh NYT 19872"/> Though not initially under the control of [[Joint Special Operations Command]], [[Michael Smith (newspaper reporter)|Michael Smith's]] 2011 book ''Killer Elite'' states that SEASPRAY was placed under the control of the [[Intelligence Support Activity]] (ISA) at an unspecified date and was used to covertly transport ISA, CIA, Delta Force and [[SEAL Team Six]] personnel;<ref name="Killer Elite">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylIUalax_CQC&q=Flight+concepts+division&pg=PA1933 |title=Killer Elite: America's Most Secret Soldiers |date=2011 |publisher=Hachette |isbn=978-1908059062 |location=London}}</ref> by 1989 it had become absorbed into [[Delta Force]], becoming the unit's "E Squadron".<ref name=":02" />
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".<ref name=":02" /> By 2017, the organization's cover identity had been renamed to the Aviation Technology Office.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-24 |title=Photo Emerges Of Shadowy Intelligence Gathering "Ghost Plane" In Somalia |url=https://www.somtribune.com/2021/02/24/photo-emerges-of-shadowy-intelligence-gathering-ghost-plane-in-somalia/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=SomTribune |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevithick |first=Joseph |date=2021-09-17 |title=Russian-Made Mi-17 Helicopter Flown By Secretive U.S. Unit Lands In Farmer's Field |url=https://www.twz.com/42409/russian-made-mi-17-helicopter-flown-by-secretive-u-s-group-lands-in-farmers-field |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The War Zone |language=en}}</ref>
== Activities == 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 leader [[Bachir Gemayel]] from Cairo to Lebanon as the first stage of a trip to the United States.<ref name="Hersh NYT 19872"/> From 1982 until 1985 SEASPRAY fixed-wing aircraft conducted [[signals intelligence]] sorties over [[Honduras]].<ref name="LeoGrande">{{cite book |last1=LeoGrande |first1=William M. |title=Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992 |date=1998 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=0807898805 |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina Press |author-link=William M. LeoGrande}}</ref> 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 from [[Nicaragua]] to [[El Salvador]]. The CIA conducted this operation using civilian aircrews instead.<ref name="LeoGrande" />
Flight Concepts Division was believed to have provided two modified Little Bird helicopters during the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu.]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevithick |first=Joseph |date=2019-05-23 |title=These Secret Helicopters Were Flown By A Shadowy Unit During The Battle of Mogadishu |url=https://www.twz.com/28177/these-secret-helicopters-were-flown-by-a-shadowy-unit-during-the-battle-of-mogadishu |access-date=2024-06-07 |website=The War Zone |language=en}}</ref> The unit also reportedly led the development of the [[Stealth helicopter|stealth variant]] of the [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk|Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk]] helicopter used in [[Killing of Osama bin Laden|the raid]] on [[Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad|Osama Bin Laden's compound]] in [[Abbottabad|Abbottabad, Pakistan]].<ref name=":2" />
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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-08-16 |title=THE CIA, SIBERIA AND THE $5M BAR BILL |url=https://nypost.com/2009/08/16/the-cia-siberia-and-the-5m-bar-bill/ |access-date=2024-06-07 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4" />
== Aircraft == {{Small|Aircraft reportedly flown by the unit by country of origin:}}
* {{Flag|Russia}} ** [[Mil Mi-17]]<ref name=":2" /> * {{Flag|United States}} ** [[Bell 407]]<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-02-07|title=Bells in the Shadow, Part One|url=https://engelsjk.com/posts/bells-in-the-shadow-part-one/|access-date=2021-09-19|website=engelsjk.com|language=en-us}}</ref> * {{Flag|United States}} ** [[Beechcraft King Air]]<ref name="ATO Aircraft">{{cite web |title=ATO Aircraft |url=https://earth.google.com |website=Google Earth |publisher=Google LLC |access-date=26 March 2025 |location=37°08'06"N 76°36'19"W}}</ref> * {{Flag|United States}} ** [[MD Helicopters MD 500]]<ref name="ATO Aircraft"/>
== See also ==
* [[Scott A. Howell]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == * [[Steven Emerson]], ''Secret Warriors: Inside the Covert Military Operations of the Reagan Era'', G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1988. {{ISBN|0-399-13360-7}}
[[Category:Special operations units and formations of the United States Army]] [[Category:United States Army aviation]] [[Category:Military units and formations in Virginia]]