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Lockheed AC-130 Gunship

The C-130 Hercules is converted by Boeing built by Lockheed the AC-130 Gunship a heavy armed ground attack lethal weapon in the U.S. arsenal. The early Gunship of this type was the AC-47 Gunship I used in Vietnam and was very successful. The modern replacement for the old AC-47 is the AC-130U Gunship II by Lockheed and converted to a Gunship by Boeing.

The United States Air Force uses the AC-130H Spectre and AC-130U Spooky exclusively for ground force protection and close air support. When there are planned targets and targets of opportunity the AC-130s are used in air interdiction. The AC-130U home base is in Hurlburt Field, Florida and the AC-130H are based in Cannon AFB, New Mexico. The Gunships deploy to many bases throughout the world to support field operations. AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command) a part of the SOCOM (United States Special Operations Command) are in charge of the gunship squadrons.

How The AC-130 Gunship is Used

All the weapons are mounted on the port side of the aircraft (left side). The AC-130 gunship will fly in a large circle in a pylon turn around a target. Keeping guns on target for long periods of time unlike conventional attack aircraft like the A-10 Warthog. The weapons are impressive in an AC-130H Spectre you will find as many as 2 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannons, a 105 M102 cannon and a Bofors 40 mm auto-cannon. Spooky the AC-130U is a little different with a single 25 mm GAU-12 Equalizer with improved fire control and a higher capacity of ammunition. Both variants of the C-130 are powered by 4 Allison T56-A-15 Turboprop engines.

The first AC-130 Gunship was produced in 1967 when a JC-130A USAF 54-1626 was chosen for conversion. Project Gunship II was the project that produced to first AC-130A at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The Aeronautical Systems Division performed the modifications. The first Gunship had Gatling guns installed along the port side and aft facing down and FLIP (forward looking infrared) in the port wheel well. Commander Tom Pinkerton handcrafted the analog fire control system at the USAF Avionics Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB. After flight testing at Eglin Air Force Base the aircraft was ready for combat testing in 1967. The new gunship was flown to Nha Trang Air Base in Vietnam and was tested in a 90 day program. Project Gunship III was brought in to supplement the AC-130 with the C-119 Flying Boxcar but proved to be underpowered and was scrapped.

By 1968 7 more C-130s were converted to AC-130s but one was considered to be a surprise package. In the surprise package the latest rotary cannons were installed a 20 mm and the Bofors cannon a 40 mm and the 7.62 was left out. The surprise package was the test bed to test different armaments and avionics for the AC-130E.

Later in 1970 the Pave Pronto project was implemented and 10 more AC-130As were added. Older Surprise Package AC-130s received the upgrade to the Pave Pronto setup and all were given a new designation nicknamed “Thor”. Later C-130Es converted in the AC-130E as part of the Pave Spectre project.

AC-130 Gunship Recent Service

War Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm the AC-130 was used for defense of air bases, close air support of ground troops and battlefield interdiction. Early warning ground control intercept were the primary interdiction targets along the southern border of Iraq. In the Battle of Khafji the first AC-130 entered combat to stop the Iraqi armored column in January of 1991. The next day 3 more gunships entered the war and attacked columns trying to reinforce their positions north of the city.

The first AC-130H to be shot down occurred in January of 1991 facing the threat of SAMs AF No. 69-6567 had elected to stay to protect Marines over the target area. Her call sign was Spirit 03 an Iraqi shot down Spirit 03 with a Strela-2 MANPAD and sadly all 14 crew members perished.

AC-130 Gunship Records

Not one but two AC-130U Gunships flew nonstop for 36 straight hours with the help of KC-135 fuel tankers refueling them 7 times between the 22nd through the 24th of October 1997. The flight took them from Hurlburt Air Base, Florida all the way to Taegu Air Base, South Korea. The previous C-130 longest flight was 6 hours less. Just think the AC-130U Gunships only took on 410,000 lbs of fuel to fly the 36 hours. The AC-130 Gunships were addressing buildup of American forces in 1998 trying to get convince Iraq to submit to UN inspections.

For more recent use of the gunships, 2001 Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan and from 2003 to 2010 in Operation Iraqi Freedom and in Somalia in 2007 on al-Qaeda militants. The sophisticated video, infrared and radar sensors proved to be excellent for intelligence gathering missions.

As of July 2010 there are eight AC130H Gunships and 17 AC-130U Gunships still on active duty. The Air Force sent 2 AC-130U Gunships to take part in Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya March 2011.

Any model of an AC-130 Gunship will make a fantastic addition to any collection of plastic model airplanes.