Warplanes: Working the Gunships Hard

Archives

May 1, 2007: Last month, some of the U.S. Air Force's 21 gunships (eight AC-130H "Spectre", and 13 AC-130U "Spooky") flew 279 sorties in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each sorties lasted about 250 minutes. The air force won't say how many of the gunships are where, but these aircraft are in big demand. However, because there are so few of them, they are used as much as possible. Use rates were about the same for February, as for March.

Because of their vulnerability to ground fire, the AC-130s only operate at night. The last time an AC-130 was lost was at Khafji, Saudi Arabia, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The aircraft was leaving the combat zone at sunrise, and was visible to Iraqi gunners in the area.

Four more AC-130Us are in production, and older ones are receiving new sensors. All AC-130s are being equipped with 30mm cannon, and missiles (like Hellfire and Viper Strike), in addition to their 105mm howitzer, and large array of sensors. Two 30mm cannon are replacing two 25mm and one 40mm weapons.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close