Posted on 01/31/2014 6:22:10 AM PST by C19fan
In trying to reduce the cost of its specialized AC-130 gunships, the U.S. Air Force may have made them more vulnerable to enemy gunfire. This is the disturbing conclusion reached by the Pentagon’s top weapons testers in their latest annual report on the AC-130J.
According to the report, the new AC-130J Ghostrider—a Lockheed Martin C-130 transport with special sensors and side-firing guns—will only be required to have armor for its crew and their oxygen system. And the armor only needs to be thick enough to stop light machine gun bullets, around 7.62 millimeters in diameter.
That’s a significant and potentially fatal downgrade from previous gunships, which since the Vietnam War have lurked over combat zones, hunting for and gunning down enemy soldiers.
(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...
This is not Vietnam. With modern targeting pods, you can hit the enemy more accurately and with less chance of killing friendlies by doing it from altitude. That is what drives the end of the A-10.
This is not 1968.
[tongue in cheek]
Well, why don’t they fly it to the area without the armor and add it right before they get there?
Very true. They should just transfer responsibility of fixed-wing ground support to each service. They’ve already done so for the marines.
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