The U.S. Air Force's New AC-130 Gunships Are Really Bomb Trucks

[jhungary]

welcome back. no matter what anyone says or feels. the AC130 is one of the best piled on weapons platform the US has come up with. its the simplicity of converting cargo planes and making them the fortresses of today that is the true genius. they are here to stay and are the future in any thrid world terrorist operations for a long time to come.

Actually, i LOVED the spectre when i was overthere, they save my tiny littlw butt for more than i can count

I am not against the spectre but worried about if the clown on the Air Force are willing to turn it into a disappointment for squeezing the congress a few bucks....

It is okay thw way it is, why go fix something that aint broke...

 

[forcetrip]

Actually, i LOVED the spectre when i was overthere, they save my tiny littlw butt for more than i can count

I am not against the spectre but worried about if the clown on the Air Force are willing to turn it into a disappointment for squeezing the congress a few bucks....

It is okay thw way it is, why go fix something that aint broke...

Its so simple that they cant break it even if they tried. Its a cargo plane + a lot of weapons. There is no research budget, there is no time frame of when it can be rolled out. No special training necessary for pilots. Actually I can go ahead and challenge anyone to come up with an excuse of why it isn't feasible for the military and the tax payers.

 

[C130]

The same old ploy by USAF to eliminate dependable weapons with scifi duds in the name of modernisation. Neither JTACs nor the grunts are going to like this loss in capability to bring precise gunfire.
The blue suits have filled their pockets again.

This is how you take a BMW and turn into sh*t !!

US has a history of trying to replace battle-tested hardware with fancy "scifi duds" made by some guys who have never been on a battlefield. May it be Strykers trying to replace M113's or the undergunned but cool looking LCS.

I gotta disagree. at first I was bummed as well no 105mm howitzer no 40mm Bofors??? and less armor, but then I think of the positives the AC-130U Spooky II will still in service long after the AC-130J starts IOC in 2017....think there is what either 13 or 17 AC-130U right now.


but it just makes sense to go in this direction with the AC-130J to get more more out of the C-130 airframe and it's capabilities

Small Diameter Bomb

.

Viper Strike...not really a fan of Viper the warhead just seems too weak. I would remove the 1.05kg HEAT warhead and replace it with a 2kg HE-FRAG warhead instead

Griffin Missile. Best bang for it's weight IMO

Bushmaster II (GAU-23/A) slightly modiefied?? I haven't seen any video of it firing from the AC-130, but it's suppose to have accuary like a sniper rifle compared to the 40mm and 25mm Equalizer

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hopefully in the future the AC-130J Ghostrider get's even smaller more precise weapons like Pyros

only weighs 5.9kg and is 22i nches in length. imagine the AC-130J carrying two dozen of them.

 

[Oldman1]

I gotta disagree. at first I was bummed as well no 105mm howitzer no 40mm Bofors??? and less armor, but then I think of the positives the AC-130U Spooky II will still in service long after the AC-130J starts IOC in 2017....think there is what either 13 or 17 AC-130U right now.


but it just makes sense to go in this direction with the AC-130J to get more more out of the C-130 airframe and it's capabilities

Small Diameter Bomb

.

Viper Strike...not really a fan of Viper the warhead just seems too weak. I would remove the 1.05kg HEAT warhead and replace it with a 2kg HE-FRAG warhead instead

Griffin Missile. Best bang for it's weight IMO

Bushmaster II (GAU-23/A) slightly modiefied?? I haven't seen any video of it firing from the AC-130, but it's suppose to have accuary like a sniper rifle compared to the 40mm and 25mm Equalizer


hopefully in the future the AC-130J Ghostrider get's even smaller more precise weapons like Pyros

only weighs 5.9kg and is 22i nches in length. imagine the AC-130J carrying two dozen of them.

Considering advanced short range AA, MANPADs or SAM platforms for example like this...

Missiles and longe range bombs on AC130 is what we need.