The DAP helicopter is an extensively redesigned variant of the UH-60 Black Hawk, created specially for night raids and operations in contested airspace such as over Venezuela.

The “Night Stalkers” are an elite helicopter unit trained to quickly and stealthily enter and exit contested areas—ideal for Saturday’s operation targeting Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

What many imagined as an operation dominated by drones or invisible technology turned out to have a far more imposing and far less cinematic protagonist: the MH-60M Direct Action Penetrator, or DAP.