AC-130 gunships returning to Iraq

[blackkn]

AC-130 gunships returning to Iraq
By: CHARLES J. HANLEY - Associated Press

AN AIR BASE IN IRAQ -- The U.S. Air Force has begun moving heavily armed AC-130 airplanes -- the lethal "flying gunships" of the Vietnam War -- to a base in Iraq as commanders search for new tools to counter the Iraqi resistance, The Associated Press has learned.

An AP reporter saw the first of the turboprop-driven aircraft after it landed at the airfield this week. Four are expected.

The Iraq-based special forces command controlling the AC-130s, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force, said it would have no comment on the deployment. But the plan's general outline was confirmed by other Air Force officers, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the subject.


Military officials warned that disclosing the location of the aircraft's new base would violate security provisions of rules governing media access to U.S. installations.

The four-engine gunships, whose home base is Hurlburt Field in Florida, have operated over Iraq before, flying from airfields elsewhere in the region. In November 2004, air-to-ground fire from AC-130s supported the U.S. attack that took the western city of Fallujah from insurgents. Basing the planes inside Iraq will cut hours off their transit time to reach suspected targets.

The left-side ports of the AC-130s, 98-foot-long planes that can slowly circle over a target for long periods, bristle with a potent arsenal -- 40 mm cannon that can fire 120 rounds per minute, and big 105 mm cannon, normally a field artillery weapon. The plane's latest version, the AC-130U, known as "Spooky," also carries Gatling gun-type 20 mm cannon.

The gunships were designed primarily for battlefield use to place saturated fire on massed troops. In Vietnam, for example, they were deployed against North Vietnamese supply convoys along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where the Air Force claimed to have destroyed 10,000 trucks over several years.

The use of AC-130s in places like Fallujah, urban settings where insurgents may be among crowded populations of noncombatants, has been criticized by human rights groups.

The slow-moving AC-130s also offer an intelligence gathering advantage in the Iraq fight: sophisticated long-range video, infrared and radar sensors.

American commanders are marshaling all available tools to detect the Iraqi insurgents' stealthy operations, especially at night, when they plant roadside bombs targeting American road patrols and convoys.

The Air Force's senior tactical commander in Iraq said the AC-130 can be both a high-intensity and low-intensity weapon.

"It's got tons of guns, and it's got all kinds of stuff on it that can be applied to the problems you have," Brig. Gen. Frank Gorenc, who refused to discuss the current AC-130 deployment, said in an AP interview.

That "stuff" includes "the ability to take these high-tech pods and to use them to find guys planting (bombs) and to find other nefarious activity," he said.

The Predator drone -- the MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle -- has been a reconnaissance workhorse in Iraq, but Air Force officers say they don't have enough to meet demand for missions. The fiscal 2007 Defense Department budget proposed last month by the Bush administration envisions spending $1.6 billion on additional reconnaissance drones.

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[The Reaper]

Charles J. Hanley needs to refer to Jane's before he writes another military hardware story.

TR

[AngelsSix]

Geez - is he for real??

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by blackkn

AC-130 gunships returning to Iraq
By: CHARLES J. HANLEY - Associated Press

AN AIR BASE IN IRAQ -- The U.S. Air Force has begun moving heavily armed AC-130 airplanes -- the lethal "flying gunships" of the Vietnam War -- to a base in Iraq as commanders search for new tools to counter the Iraqi resistance, The Associated Press has learned.

The US Air Force does not own or employ AC-130's. They are owned and operated by USSOCOM.

TS

[GunPig]

I won't reply on the article other than using the phrase "inaccurate reporting"...but I suppose we are all used to that anyhow.

TS...you are partailly correct...but ("green aircraft") AC-130s are owned and funded by the AF. OPCON is chopped to USSOCOM however, and all special mission equipment and support is an MFP-11 bill.

Truth is there isn't enough money in USSOCOM POM to support the huge O&M bills of AFSOC Aircraft. This "split" funding has been a source of grief since AFSOC came to be.

v/r
gunpig

[Peregrino]

Originally Posted by GunPig

I won't reply on the article other than using the phrase "inaccurate reporting"...but I suppose we are all used to that anyhow.

TS...you are partailly correct...but ("green aircraft") AC-130s are owned and funded by the AF. OPCON is chopped to USSOCOM however, and all special mission equipment and support is an MFP-11 bill.

Truth is there isn't enough money in USSOCOM POM to support the huge O&M bills of AFSOC Aircraft. This "split" funding has been a source of grief since AFSOC came to be.

v/r
gunpig

That's a problem with the Navy assets and Army aviation too. Not a lot of money left for the trops by the time the hardware gets funded. Lousy reporting aside, I want the T's to have to change their pants every time ANY C-130 flys over their heads at night. They should have the poor bastards in trash haulers out there flying orbits just to confuse the issue. My .02 - Peregrino

[CPTAUSRET]

Originally Posted by Peregrino

That's a problem with the Navy assets and Army aviation too. Not a lot of money left for the trops by the time the hardware gets funded. Lousy reporting aside, I want the T's to have to change their pants every time ANY C-130 flys over their heads at night. They should have the poor bastards in trash haulers out there flying orbits just to confuse the issue. My .02 - Peregrino

That (Puff) was a mighty impressive aircraft during VN, I worked in tandem with them on several occasions. I can only imagine the refinements in armament and accuracy, re then and now.

Terry

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by GunPig

I won't reply on the article other than using the phrase "inaccurate reporting"...but I suppose we are all used to that anyhow.

TS...you are partailly correct...but ("green aircraft") AC-130s are owned and funded by the AF. OPCON is chopped to USSOCOM however, and all special mission equipment and support is an MFP-11 bill.

Truth is there isn't enough money in USSOCOM POM to support the huge O&M bills of AFSOC Aircraft. This "split" funding has been a source of grief since AFSOC came to be.

v/r
gunpig

I knew someone like you would post that. Just so the readers understand,

The US Air Force might fund their purchase they have nothing to do with their employment. Just like the mother Army buys our Green Berets, they do not employ us, SF Command does, unders USSOCOM.

Mark my words, soon there will be a "5th" service and it will be the Special Operations branch. For all practical purposes we are already a 5th service.

TS

[Sdiver]

Originally Posted by CPTAUSRET

That (Puff) was a mighty impressive aircraft during VN, I worked in tandem with them on several occasions. I can only imagine the refinements in armament and accuracy, re then and now.

Terry

Sir,
This is older footage, taken during the opening operations in A-stan, but you can see a little of how well the targeting systems work on these Gunships.

http://www.viperalley.com/gallery/sh...t/all/si/video



BTW...I'm sure these planes in theater are helping out with "Operation Swarmer" that was launched this morning...as FOX news is reporting now.

[GunPig]

TS

Your quote "Mark my words, soon there will be a "5th" service and it will be the Special Operations branch. For all practical purposes we are already a 5th service."

That's a shack...I hope you'r right. We have been wishing for that for a long time.

GP

[Guy]

The deployment of this A/C is old news.

Take care.