While hanging out at the Dubai Air Show, Danger Room pal Steve Trimble got to sit in on a strangely fascinating briefing by a Lebanese officer. He described how the Lebanese military turned an old UH-1 Huey helicopter into a jury-rigged bomber during a 2007 battle against Islamic militants holed up in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared.
According to the Lebanese briefer, identified only as Lt. Col. Yassine, Lebanese officers cooked up the plan to retrofit the Huey with a bomb release system because their antiquated Hawker Hunter jets couldn't get off the ground. The Hueys could drop a range of bombs, ranging from 50 to 400 kilograms; all told, the modified helos flew 98 bombing runs against Fatah al-Islam fighters inside the camp.
The briefing sheds more light on another little-known episode from the 2007 Lebanon conflict. During the fighting, the Pentagon used so-called "Section 1206" funds to provide parts, ammunition and night-vision equipment to the Lebanese army during the offensive against Fatah al-Islam. In 2008, then-Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman said the $40 million worth of gear supplied by the United States helped the Lebanese army "to maintain the offensive at the Nahr al-Bared camp and ultimately stabilize the area."
