A LOT of the manpads floating around Libya are the SA-7, which is cheap crap and WILL get fooled by flares. It also has other limitations, also.
But the SA-24 has a ceiling of 19,000 feet, so it can quite easily reach up to the altitude at which the AC-130 typically operates.
But if it got close then as long as the Herc was the U version, well, then u can b sure it’s seeker would be dazzled to a crisp, or at least enough to provide for a good miss. So the American flight crew would sweat a good deal but probably be OK and could probably still carry out a good attack.
The most recent versions of the AC-130 have heavy machine guns and howtzer but can also launch hellfire missiles and there are even new specialiazed ports out of which the crew can drop very small missles with wings that flick out like a switchblade and are extremely accurate and have long-range, if launched from a very high (read here SAFE) altitude.
Sorry im typing this on aphone
Would terrorists on the ground be able to effectively aim and hit an aircraft that high?
It still doesn’t make sense, though, for them not to use the drone we already had there to take out a target already painted by Woods. I could see them sending in just an armed drone if they were afraid of having a manned aircraft shot down. But it makes no sense to have an armed drone right there and not let it fire on the X that Woods marked out for it.
What am I missing?