The AC-130J Ghostrider gunship is the newest aircraft platform introduced to the 27th Special Operations Wing. It specializes in air interdiction, close air support and armed reconnaissance. The introduction of this aircraft to the 27 SOW helps keep Cannon Air Force Base and Air Commandos at the forefront of innovation, lethality and the great power competition.
One of the problems we had with the AC-130U 25mm gun was the inertia of the ammo. The gun cycled so quickly that when the trigger was released about 6 rounds would continue past the breach because it was hard to stop all those rounds when you get them moving. The feed system actually reversed to recover those unfired rounds. Getting this feature to function was a big pain during development.
Amazing how they cut a huge hole into the planes side. Load it with 25 tons of ammo, fly to the enemy and within 5 minutes, unload the ammo through those barrels and hit every inch of enemy territory! Amazing! Thank you for serving!
Aircrew preflight inspection.... Supervised ground testing of the 5th generation gunship, 1988 -.1990, Edward's AFB CA.... Can only imagine the advances since then!!! Phenomenal machine!!! Vietnam Era nose art read: "You can run, but you'll only die tired...." some other was, "Spectre, death from above.
I've seen these birds in action and I can tell you, these planes can unleash some serious hellfire and I promise you, you don't want to be anywhere near when they open up. But my question is, the C-130 isn't exactly the most agile or the fastest bird in the sky. So don't these things make a great target for SAMs?
