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By: - 17th October 2003 at 19:53 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The following information is from fas.org
Armament:
two M61 20mm Vulcan cannons
with 3,000 rounds
one L60 40mm Bofors cannon
with 256 rounds
one M102 105mm howitzer
with 100 rounds
One 25mm GAU-12 Gatling gun
(1,800 rounds per minute)
one L60 40mm Bofors cannon
(100 shots per minute)
one M102 105mm cannon
(6-10 rounds per minute)
By: - 17th October 2003 at 19:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
As an introduction I would recommend this (older) link:
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/ac-130.htm
Best regards
atc pal
By: - 17th October 2003 at 20:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
There was also the AC-119.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/8758/ac-47.html
http://www.ac-119gunships.com/
Best regards
atc pal
By: - 17th October 2003 at 20:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Great AC-119 pic...
Gotta love time lapse photos....
By: - 18th October 2003 at 05:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The AC-130 works hand in hand with the Predator UAV/UCAV in a lot of ops now to give it an extra set of eyes and/or combined firepower. They complement each other well.
By: - 18th October 2003 at 05:21 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
There was a famous video of the AC-130 in action in Afghanistan - showed terrorists being eliminated in large numbers. Does anybody have a link? I have not seen it yet.
Thanx
By: - 18th October 2003 at 14:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
AC-130 Video
Originally posted by aditya
There was a famous video of the AC-130 in action in Afghanistan - showed terrorists being eliminated in large numbers. Does anybody have a link? I have not seen it yet.Thanx
http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=AC_130Gunship.htm
:D
By: - 19th October 2003 at 11:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Were there ever any Soviet Gun ships? I read that a couple of AN-2's have been used but never seen any pics, any one out there have any more info?
By: - 5th November 2003 at 22:42 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
AC-130A
2 ea. M61A1 20mm cannon
2 ea. M134 7.62mm minigun
2 ea. 40mm Bofors cannon
AC-130H
2 ea. M61A1 20mm cannon
1 ea. 40mm Bofors cannon
1 ea. 105mm Howitzer
note: Bofors cannon and 105mm are on trainable mounts that follow the sensor movement
AC-130U
1 ea. trainable 25mm gatling gun
1 ea. 40mm Bofors cannon
1 ea. 105mm howitzer
On AC-130A, the guns are fired by the pilot. On the AC-130H the 20mm are only fired by the pilot, but the 40mm and 105mm are fired by the sensor operator when used in "trainable" mode.
14 crewmembers (same for AC-130A and AC-130H):
pilot
copilot
flt engineer
navigator
fire control officer
IR sensor operator
LLLTV sensor operator
IO/AAA observer
Scanner/Gunner (rt. side observation window)
4 ea. aerial gunners
Electronic Warfare Officer
The AC-130A's were operated by the 711th SOS of the AFRes 8919th SOG. The AC-130H are operated now by the 16th SOS, 16th SOW (formerly the 16th SOS, 1st SOW). The AC-130U is operated by the 4th SOS, 16th SOW. Allare under the command of the Air Force Special Operations Command.
Hope this information is useful.
Ron C. (former sensor operator, 16th SOS, !st SOW, 1700+ flt hours on AC-130H)
By: - 6th November 2003 at 00:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Re: AC-130 Video
Originally posted by Crusader
http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=AC_130Gunship.htm:D
Actually the file is here:
http://www.vampirebat.com/war/
I have a 20mm shell casing from an AC-130 used in Enduring Freedom. The business end of it was deposited into some poor unsavory character in Afghanistan :D
By: - 6th November 2003 at 00:42 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I love that video.. " Run Forest ! Run ! ". Hmmmm need some popcorn.
By: - 6th November 2003 at 01:26 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Re: Re: AC-130 Video
Originally posted by SOC
Actually the file is here:
Great stuff! Thanks!
By: - 6th November 2003 at 04:40 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Still no news or pics on the An-2 versions?
By: - 6th November 2003 at 15:05 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
An-2 Gunship
Originally posted by Ja Worsley
Still no news or pics on the An-2 versions?
An-2 Gunship
Still haven't found any pictures, but there is a model of one.
By: - 22nd September 2006 at 15:34 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Actually the file is here:http://www.vampirebat.com/war/
I have a 20mm shell casing from an AC-130 used in Enduring Freedom. The business end of it was deposited into some poor unsavory character in Afghanistan :D
I would have to disagree with you there.
The 20MM were taken off the AC-130Hs between 1996-1998 long before Enduring freedom.
the AC-130U has the 25MM
By: - 26th September 2006 at 20:37 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Let me see a picture of the brass and I can help you ID it
By: - 26th September 2006 at 22:53 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Indeed, working at Hurlburt you learn a lot of things and the 20-mm guns on the AC-130H were taken off as they were deemed to put the aircraft at too much risk because they were ineffective when operating at the altitudes required to get away from certain threats.
The 25-mm is still on the U model though.
The 25-mm on the U and the (now gone) 20-mm weapons will be replaced by a 30-mm weapon of a type I'm not sure about at this point. I believe the 40-mm will also be replaced by this same weapon once all available rounds are expended. the 105 will remain as is.
It should be noted that the AC-130A actually went through a few different armament configruations. They started out with four miniguns and four 20-mms before having the 40-mm weapons installed which replaced two of the miniguns and two of the 20-mm weapons I believe. It gets confusing.....
By: - 27th September 2006 at 01:15 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Indeed, working at Hurlburt you learn a lot of things and the 20-mm guns on the AC-130H were taken off as they were deemed to put the aircraft at too much risk because they were ineffective when operating at the altitudes required to get away from certain threats.Let it also be noted that the AC-130E/H (same aircraft) were also fitted with the 7.62 minigun gats above the hydraulic system in the left wing armpit.The 25-mm is still on the U model though.
The 25-mm on the U and the (now gone) 20-mm weapons will be replaced by a 30-mm weapon of a type I'm not sure about at this point. I believe the 40-mm will also be replaced by this same weapon once all available rounds are expended. the 105 will remain as is.
It should be noted that the AC-130A actually went through a few different armament configruations. They started out with four miniguns and four 20-mms before having the 40-mm weapons installed which replaced two of the miniguns and two of the 20-mm weapons I believe. It gets confusing.....
By: - 27th September 2006 at 03:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I never knew the H was fitted with miniguns at any time.....that's quite interesting.
By: - 27th September 2006 at 03:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I never knew the H was fitted with miniguns at any time.....that's quite interesting.
They were long gone before I ever worked/flew them. But the holes that they shot out of are still visible (covered) and I think 69-6570 and 6575 still have the mounting brackets (if my memory serves me right)
Posts: 2
By: SkyMan - 17th October 2003 at 19:30
Anyone with detail informations and pictures on the AC-130 Spectre gunship, and/or the old AC-47 "Puff The Magic Dragon" (I forget it's official name)?
- Type of guns.
- Number of pilots and weapon-operators on board.
- Operation history.
- Recent operations in Afganistan and Irag.
- Who commands them, the USAF, the Army or Special
Forces Command?
Pictures with the guns in action would be great.
Thanks beforehand lads.