AFSOC adding cannon to its new gunship
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Air Force's new gunship is going to be a lot more powerful.
The AC-130J Ghostrider is in testing and expected to replace the service's current gunship fleet of AC-130H Spectres, AC-130W Stinger IIs and AC-130U Spookys. The new version already was planned to be outfitted with a precision strike package. But that wasn't enough for Air Force Special Operations Command.
"I want to have two guns," AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold told reporters Thursday at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium here.
AFSOC plans to add a 105mm cannon to the rear of the plane. That is in addition to the weapons the aircraft is already slated to carry — dual electro-optical infrared sensors, a 30mm cannon, AGM-176A Griffin missiles, all-weather synthetic aperture radar and GBU-30 small diameter bombs. The package was developed to let the gunship identify friendlies and targets at night and in adverse weather.
The command is testing the first version of the Ghostrider, without the gun. The second version is being built without the cannon; the third will be the first to be built with the 105mm cannon, which is in use on the U version of the plane. The first two will be retrofit with the cannon.
With the addition of the cannon, the AC-130J will carry the largest weapons load that the Air Force's gunships have had.
"We've got a bomb truck with guns on it now," Heithold said, calling the AC-130J "the ultimate battle plane."
The Air Force will fly 37 AC-130Js and expects to field the first operational version in two to three years — following testing and any changes required to address issues that arise during testing. The service has eight AC-130Hs, 12 AC-130Ws and 17 AC-130Us.
The Air Force is retiring the eight H models, and will reduce to a floor of 26 W and U versions.
Pretty sure all Spectres have been retired. To bad the Bushmaster did pass testing.
