Osama, Greetings from Special Operations

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/ac-130.htm ^

[KarlH]

Something that Osama and his troops might get a nice view of. Although they might not have much time to enjoy the view.

[eureka!]

Wow. Thanks for the post. It never ceases to amaze me the weapons we have at our disposal. I do hope they are used often and effectively on OBL and his forces....

[B-Chan]

I'd sure hate to have Puff mad at me...

[b fair]

Kind of doubt that Osama will get a good lok at the aircraft
Since these ships only fly at night.
Although their last sight might be the tracer stream descending on them!

[Hugin]

$72 million

A bargain at twice the price.

[Skibane]

Great post!

One 25mm GAU-12 Gatling gun: 1800 rounds per minute, but just 300 rounds carried?
Just 10 seconds of sustained fire? Is that a typo?

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Why do they only have guns on one side? Is the enemy always on the left?

[dhuffman@awod.com]

For at least this war, I can't imagine a better compliment than the A-10 WARTHOG. Ugly low-tech warplanes for an ugly low-tech war.

[Mark17]

AC-130U Spooky

The AC-47 was the spooky, the AC-130 is the Spectre. This aircraft is meant to fire on very lightly armed targets. For heavily armed targets, it is a sitting duck. That is why one was shot down in the Gulf War, because they tried to use it against the wrong targets. Helicopter gunships are pretty awesome machines as well. The Spectre has it's place for sure, but they must be careful.

[b fair]

you ask "Why do they only have guns on one side? Is the enemy always on the left? "
The pilot used to also be the gunner and the ship attacks using whats called a left Pylon turn.
The reason for the Pylon turn is it keeps the weapons pointed at the same spot on the ground.
Hope this helps explain why all the weapons are on the left.

[Mark17]

Why do they only have guns on one side? Is the enemy always on the left?

They bank and orbit the aircraft, to fire. They can't bank in both directions at the same time.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Thanks.

[Mannaggia l'America]

Sounds cool, but...

It has more than 609,000 lines of software code in its mission computers and avionics systems.

As a software guy, that size doesn't really impress me. That's rather small.

Question - what advantages do turbo-prop (propeller) engines have over jet engines in this type of application?

[Don Myers]

In looking at our military might, I am reminded of the Roman Empire and their might. They were the strongest nation on earth in their day. Now they are a footnote in the pages of history.

[GingisK]

what advantages do turbo-prop (propeller) engines have over jet engines in this type of application?

They are slower, giving the crew more time to pound the crap out of the target, a more stable platform from which to direct highly accurate fire, and a longer time to be in the air waiting for trouble.

[Stand Watch Listen]

Why do they only have guns on one side?

[SLB]

Any chance one of these will show up for Knob Creek?

[Bill Rice]

Did you know we can operate these things from a carrier?

Landing
Taking off

I found these Quicktime movies at the Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine web site