Posted on 10/16/2001 5:37:08 PM PDT by Pokey78
THE debut of the American special operations AC130 gunship in Operation Enduring Freedom points the way to a new phase in the coalition strikes on Taleban forces. The gunship is one of the most formidable airborne killing machines available to the US forces operating in Afghanistan. Although it is slow and operates at a relatively low altitude, the gunship, based on the Lockheed Hercules transport aircraft, has a deadly array of weaponry which can devastate an area the size of a football pitch. First used in the Vietnam War, the turboprop gunship has been modified and now comes in two forms, the AC130H, known as the Spectre, and the AC130U Spooky. During the Vietnam War they destroyed more than 10,000 trucks, and were credited with numerous life-saving close-air support operations. Since then, they have seen action in Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada in 1983, Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989, Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq in 1991 and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1994. They also operated in the Balkans. At the heart of their arsenal is an M102 105mm cannon which, in the Spooky version, can fire six to ten rounds a minute. The AC130U Spooky also has a 25mm Gatling gun which can fire 1,800 rounds a minute. Paul Jackson, the editor of Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, said the gunship was able to direct a withering amount of fire on a single target by flying in a circle, its weapons firing as the aircraft banks, normally at an altitude of about 2,000ft or more. The Spectre version has two 20mm Vulcan cannons, one 40mm Bofors cannon and one 105mm cannon. The Spooky has a 25mm Gatling gun, one 40mm Bofors cannon, which can fire 200 shots a minute, and one 105mm cannon. Each has a crew of about 14. The Spectre cost about £30 million each and there are eight left in service. There are 13 of the newer Spooky, each costing about £48 million, assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field, in Florida. These side-firing gunships have proved vulnerable to ground attack in the past. Eight AC130s have been lost in combat, six of them during operations over Vietnam and Laos in the 1970s. The two other AC130 gunships were lost in combat in Kuwait and Somalia, the latter in 1994 when the 105mm cannon exploded while the aircraft was airborne. The AC130U Spooky, which is commonly called the “U-Boat”, is described as the most complex aircraft weapon system in the world, with more than 609,000 lines of software code in its mission computers and avionics systems. The prototype made its first flight in December 1990. Based on Lockheed airframes and modified by Boeing, it has advanced sensors, a new fire-control radar system, global positioning system navigation, special electronic counter-measures and an infra-red warning receiver, enabling the crew to fly at night and in adverse weather. They also have the ability to loiter for long periods over targets. With its fire control system, developed by Hughes, the gunship can engage two separate targets simultaneously up to three quarters of a mile away, using two different guns. No other ground attack aircraft in the world has this capability.
Link to USAF Fact Sheet AC-130H/U Gunship
Link to Lockheed AC-130A "Spectre" Gunship
Link to Roster of the AC-130 Gunships
It is likely true the the top leadership and a cadre of their personal bodyguards are in safe hiding, but the majority of the Taleban forces have no such luxury. They are under pressure to defend the Taleban government from internal insurrection by the Northern Alliance. That means they have to be on the front lines where we can engage and destroy them.
I'll have to leave it up to experts to clarify the details...
http://www.petester.com/html/AC003.html
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