Crew of gunship 'Spooky 41' are all awarded medals after raining fire on ISIS militants for NINE hours to allow rescue of 15 wounded soldiers in Afghanistan battle likened to Iwo Jima

UK Daily Mail ^ | March 3, 2020 | James Gordon

[C19fan]

The crew of a U.S. gunship have been awarded bravery medals at a ceremony in Florida after they rained fire down on Islamic State militants for hours, as allied soldiers on the ground were whisked to safety.

Forces on the ground came under heavy fire from ISIS militants in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan on April 3, 2019, in a ferocious fight which one Major on the ground likened to infamous WW2 battle Iwo Jima.

They called for backup from 'Spooky 41' - a AC-13OU gunship, and the Hercules-variant plane arrived within minutes to provide covering fire and ensure medical helicopters could safely evacuate the injured.

The crew were up in the air for nine hours and managed to suppress enemy fire during the evacuation of 15 wounded soldiers.

[C19fan]

Nice to have a gunship that can carry that much ammo.

[Yo-Yo]

Nice to have a gunship that can carry that much ammo.

And fuel.

[allendale]

Simply put: You never ever want to mess with the United States Air Force.

[jazminerose]

Must we learn all about this from the foreign press?

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

I thought Spooky’s were CIA assets?

[Da Coyote]

A-10s and Spookys are two entities that one most definitely does NOT want to p*ss off.

[McGavin999]

You never want to mess with the US, Air, Land, Sea and now even Space. It’s great that we have the best equipment in the world but even without it we would win. This is a nation of warriors

[oh8eleven]

... likened to Iwo Jima
Almost 7000 Marines died on Iwo Jima.
Not. Even. Close.

[agere_contra]

Nine hours of left-hand pylon turns. They must be dizzy.

[rktman]

Nor pull from inventory.

[Pollster1]

The A-10 and AC-130 are incredible aircraft. I’m disgusted with the Air Force for trying so hard to ignore that mission. When it comes to air-to-mud ordinance on target, it’s hard to imagine anything better than the AC-130.

[treetopsandroofs]

Hmm, they’ve provided enough info at the article to be able to determine just how much materiel can (at least on paper) be brought to bear in nine hours.

Just the Howitzer fires 20 kg 10 times per minute, 60 minutes per hour for 9 hours = 108,000 kg, 238,099.243 pounds.

Can they really carry enough for 9 hours, even if the barrel wouldn’t overheat?

Cool news, guess they didn’t need a backup gunship.

[Ouchthatonehurt]

[agere_contra]

AC-130U 'Spooky II'

1× General Dynamics 25 mm (0.984 in) GAU-12/U Equalizer 5-barreled rotary cannon

1× 40 mm (1.58 in) L/60 Bofors cannon

1× 105 mm (4.13 in) M102 howitzer

I wonder which one of these was the most useful over nine hours of suppression?

Anyway, sucks to be ISIS.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

[Starboard]

The crew were up in the air for nine hours and managed to suppress enemy fire during the evacuation of 15 wounded soldiers

************

Impressive military feat but let’s not forget the human cost. Fifteen more of America’s Best wounded in an area that will never be anything other than a backward tribal enclave.

[niteowl77]

I’m disgusted with the Air Force for trying so hard to ignore that mission.

With some exceptions, they have been doing that since the Wright Brothers. For every Pete Quesada or Harry Broadhurst, there is an inexhaustible supply of officers who simply will not be bothered with close air support and who would mothball every aircraft designed for such.

[IronJack]

I hope the gunship made a lot of ISIS hamburger that day. Worms need to eat too.

[HP8753]

Operation Smouldering Turban !