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An Air Force AC-130 gunship destroyed a truck on Tuesday in Western Iraq after the aircraft’s crew watched Iranian-backed militia fighters use the vehicle to launch a ballistic missile attack on U.S. troops, injuring eight Americans, defense officials said. “Immediately following the attack, a U.S. military AC-130 aircraft in the area conducted a self-defense strike against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and a number of Iranian-backed militia personnel involved in this attack,” according to U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM. “This self-defense strike resulted in several enemy casualties.” The AC-130 was airborne at the time of the attack on Al Asad Air...

No idea where this is, or when this was filmed, as the site only provides the video. Afghanistan perhaps?

By April 1972, the American military presence in Vietnam had largely been reduced to air power. North Vietnam launched their Easter Offensive — the largest military invasion since China crossed the Yalu River during the Korean War. Soon, the 5th Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam'(ARVN) was surrounded by three enemy divisions at An Loc, the capital of Binh Phuoc province. Their only hope of the defenders was American air power, calling on B-52s and AC-130 gunships to hammer the enemy infantry and armor. The ARVN troops were holding out, but badly needed supplies. The roads to...

The U.S. Army has made an urgent purchase of a specific type of 30mm cannon shells on behalf of U.S. Special Operations Command. Without the ammunition, the service said the U.S. Air Force’s AC-130W Stinger II gunships would be forced to use alternative rounds that would be unacceptably inaccurate and dangerously unreliable. In June 2017, the Army approved a plan to purchase up to 200,000 PGU-46/B 30mm cannon rounds from Orbital ATK. The service did not publicly disclose the total potential dollar value of the contract, but had to issue a so-called justification and approval document to explain why they...

Fear is often said to be the greatest weapon against your enemies, but I think that fear might have to take 2nd place against the incredible arsenal of the AC-130. The AC-130, often called “The Angel of Death” is one of the most fearsome gunships that ever took to the sky. Operated by a crew of 13, a 132-foot wingspan and equipped with multiple machine high powered guns and flying at speeds of up to 300 MPH the AC-130 a weapon of war that can win wars by itself.

The AC-130 flying gunship fleet is one of the most fabled and feared assets in the entire USAF inventory. Known for its ability to unleash a broadside of cannon fire in the dead of night, the newest of the AC-130 lot is more about smart bombs than raining lead and howitzer shells down on the enemy. Before the turn of the decade it became clear that the aging AC-130 fleet was in low supply and exceedingly high demand. As a result the Air Force Special Operations Command decided that it should augment the existing fleet on AC-130H and AC-130Us in...

Former Pacific Fleet chief: We need full disclosure on Benghazi — now POSTED AT 9:31 AM ON OCTOBER 30, 2012 BY ED MORRISSEY Retired Admiral James A. Lyons likely pulled few punches as commander in chief of the US Pacific Fleet during his career … and he hasn’t started pulling punches now, either. In a blistering column at The Washington Times, the former commander blasts the lack of action from the US when the administration learned our consulate in Benghazi had come under attack, writing that “courage was lacking” that might have saved at least some of the four American...

It's simple logic. In Libya there is only one possible threat to an AC130 gunship: surface to air missiles. Thus this is the only way Panetta wasn't lying when he said that it was lack of information about the threat environment that kept him from sending defenders into "harm's way" in Benghazi. He must have been afraid that the jihadists were lying in wait with surface to air missiles, and he had good reason to suspect such a ploy. A primary task of the Libyan mission was to round up the war materiel of the deposed and decomposing Moammar Ghadaffi...

The first U.S. Marine Corps "instant gunship" arrived in Afghanistan two months ago. Last month, it fired one of its weapons (a Hellfire missile) for the first time (killing five Taliban). Called "Harvest Hawk," the "instant gunship" system, enables weapons and sensors to be quickly rolled into a C-130 transport and hooked up. This takes a few hours, and turns the C-130 into a gunship (similar in capabilities existing AC-130 gunships). The sensor package consists of day/night vidcams with magnification capability. The weapons currently consist of ten Griffin missiles and four Hellfires. A 30mm autocannon is optional.

The U.S. Air Force is modifying the fire control software on its AC-130H gunships so the 105mm howitzer and 40mm autocannon can track and shoot at different targets at the same time. Currently, the two weapons can both be aimed at only one target at a time. The AC-130s are also being tested using missiles, like Hellfire. U.S. Air Force operates 25 of these gunships (eight AC-130H "Spectre", and 17 AC-130U "Spooky"). The AC-130U has an additional 25mm autocannon, and always had the capability to track more than one target at a time. Because of their vulnerability to ground fire,...

Hey. I'm new here and I apologize for the vanity post, but I'd like to interview people with AC-130 experience. I'm working on a story and need an objective opinion. The deadline is 10-16-08. Thanks.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. warplane strafed snipers in the southern city of Basra, killing at least 16 suspected militants after Iraqi troops came under heavy fire, the American military said Iraqi police earlier claimed eight civilians, including two women and a child, had been killed in a predawn airstrike in the Hananiyah neighborhood, a known Shiite militia stronghold. But Maj. Brad Leighton, a U.S. military spokesman, said U.S. and Iraqi special operations forces had identified snipers on several roofs before the strike was ordered. An AC-130 gunship then opened fire on enemy positions on three roofs. "Initial reports indicate 16...

Boeing progresses forward with the development of its airborne laser program Boeing is working on a devastating new weapon which could strike fear into the eyes of all American enemies. The company is progressing at a rapid pace on its 12,000-pound airborne laser. The Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) was installed into a C-130H gunship and Boeing is on track to begin in-flight tests of the weapon next year. Ground targets will be neutralized via the ATL which is incorporated into a rotating turret on the C-130H's belly. The ATL is seen as a precise, high-power weapon that will result in...

Boeing this week said completed work on and installed a 12,000-pound chemical laser in a C-130H aircraft and will now test the weapon, which will fire through a rotating turret that extends through the aircraft's belly, until an official demonstration set for 2008. Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) which is being developed for the Department of Defense, will destroy, damage or disable targets with little to no collateral damage, supporting missions on the battlefield and in urban operations, Boeing said. The ATL team includes L-3 Communications/Brashear, which made the laser turret, and Hytec which made various structural elements of the...

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch didn't like what he saw ahead of his tank in Fallujah, Iraq. It was late afternoon April 6, 2004, two days into an offensive to retake the city and avenge the four U.S. contractors whose burned bodies had been hung from a train trestle. Popaditch commanded a pair of tanks sent to relieve an infantry unit. A tanker truck, probably booby-trapped, was blocking an alley. Insurgents had strung a spider's web of electrical wires across the entrance to a nearby courtyard. Popaditch knew he was moving into the kill zone of an ambush. He wouldn't...

2007 September 14, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, USA: U.S. Air Force AC-130 Gunship drops flares and chaff during the firepower demonstration. Much larger photo. The Photographer Mr. Lawrence Crespo, 99th Communications Squadron, United States Air ForceThe Courtesieshttp://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060914.htm (photo 2) http://www.DefenseLINK.mil/photos/newsphoto.aspx?newsphotoid=9540

DAG, Afghanistan — It all started as a routine mission on a near moonless night one month ago. The objective was an abandoned village named Shudergay, a place frequented by bad guys who do bad things. Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division had been there before. They knew it was a sanctuary for insurgents to regroup, rest and re-arm. It was also the hometown of Habib Jan, the head of a large militant cell operating in northeastern Afghanistan. “This guy was responsible for the only two soldiers I lost,” said Capt. Robert Stanton, commander of Company C, 1st Battalion, 32nd...

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFNEWS) -- Spooky is about to get a little scarier. Crews at Hurlburt Field have put the finishing touches on the first AC-130U Spooky gunship armed with the 30 mm Bushmaster cannon. The rearmed Spooky retains its 105 mm cannon but replaces the 25 mm and 40 mm guns with Bushmasters. The project is a "win-win," according to Air Force Special Operations Command officials -- unless you're one of the bad guys. "We're buying increased lethality and accuracy at the same time we're improving reliability," said Lt. Col. Mike Gottstine, AFSOC's chief of strike/intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance...

Excerpt - A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship staged an airstrike against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in southern Somalia on Monday, the second such attack this month, U.S. officials said Tuesday. There was no immediate information on specific targets or the strike's results. The United States has said that at least three senior al-Qaeda operatives were being sheltered by the Islamic Courts movement that was ousted from power in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, by the Ethiopian military last month. Word of the new attack came the same day as a long line of Ethiopian artillery, armored vehicles and trucks loaded with...

Excerpt - MOGADISHU, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Many people died in a U.S. air strike on a southern Somali village occupied by Islamists believed to be sheltering at least one al Qaeda suspect, a Somali government source said on Tuesday. "I understand there are so many dead bodies and animals in the village," the senior source told Reuters. In the first known direct U.S. intervention in the Somali war that began over Christmas, an AC-130 plane rained gunfire down on the southern village of Hayo late on Monday. "The Americans are saying an al Qaeda member heading operations in east...