Posted on 12/09/2002 8:50:44 PM PST by jdontom
From the inside fold of todays Orange County Register which had some excellent diagrams:
AC-130 packs a unique, deadly punch
By ROBERT BURNS
HURLBURT FIELD, FLA. Its official name is the AC-130. Some call it simply the Big Gun. Packed with a unique combination of airborne firepower, it is one of the most fearsome warplanes. Just one look shows why. This plane does not drop bombs or break speed records. Flying night or day, loitering at low altitude, it fires shells the likes of which would be expected to be found on a tank or a battleship. The steel gun barrel that protrudes from the left side of the fuselage is big enough to stick an arm down. It fires 105mm shells - each about 33 pounds and 3 feet long. Even resting idle and unarmed, the cannon is a chilling sight. Closer to the cockpit door, on the same side of the plane, is more weaponry: a 40mm Bofors cannon capable of 100 shots per minute and a 25mm Gatling gun that fires as many as 1,800 rounds per minute. Together, these guns can inflict death and destruction on a scale unmatched by any other aircraft that performs low-flying support for ground troops. Over their 35 years in service, individual AC-130s have carried such nicknames as Grim Reaper, Jaws of Death, Ultimate End, Exterminator and Grave Digger. Gen. Tommy Franks of the Central Command is quick to praise its performance. "I would sum it up by saying simply, I'm a fan," Franks said. At Hurlburt, Air Force officials declined to make AC-130 crew members available for interviews. A public affairs officer, Lt. Rosemary Heiss, said they were too busy training. She gave a visiting reporter a tour, however, of a 1990 model Spooky parked on the tarmac, and described what it is like inside while its guns are blazing: "It's dark, it's loud, it smells and it's intimidating." Although the AC-130s played a central role in defeating the Taliban and chasing al-Qaida from Afghanistan, they also were involved in two highly publicized controversies. On March 2, the opening day of the last major U.S. offensive in Afghanistan, an AC-130 mistakenly fired on friendly forces, killing an American soldier. An investigation concluded that the plane's crew had been plagued by equipment problems, including flawed navigation systems that contributed to the erroneous targeting. The Pentagon originally had reported that the U.S. soldier had been killed by mortar fire from enemy forces. On July 1, an AC-130 pounded several villages in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province, and Afghan authorities said afterward that 48 civilians were killed, including women and children celebrating a wedding. U.S. officials defended the AC-130 crew, saying they opened fire only after coming under hostile fire from the ground.
The Associated Press
What a truly fearsome piece of hardware. Is it wrong to be very proud as an American watching that airplane in action?
The al Qaeda dopes on the ground would stand a better chance if they dropped to the floor and made "snow angels" to show they're no longer in the fight! ;-)
The coolness of the crew shows that they are not inherently violent, but are dispatching combatants in the course of warfare. True professionals doing what needs to be done. This was an excellent post.
~ Blue Jays ~
Freekin awesome !
Proud may or may not be the correct feeling, but grateful it's ours is how I feel.
Earnest_at_the_Beach wanted me to post this here, but I don't know who I stole it from.
Banana Boat song parody (? by Doug from Upland?)
Hey oh...oh hey oh,
Air force come and they flatten your home
Run Mr Taliban, we know where you're hiding,
Air force come and they flatten your home
Hey USA, USA, USA...
Air force come and they flatten you home
60ft, 70ft, 80ft craters,
Air force come and they flatten your home
Old Uncle Sam's pissed, he ain't no quitter,
Air force come and they flatten your home
When we finish you all be crying,
Air force come and they flatten your home,
Pilot is brother of New York fireman
Air force come and they flatten your home
Hey, Doug, we need a new verse about "Special Forces come and they kick in your a$$."
And they are several thousands of feet away!
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