hello everyone today we will show you about the ac-130 gunship on steroids
the historic lethal and combat-tested ac-130 gunship known for attacking Isis
and Taliban fighters during close air support high-risk combat missions is getting a massive
technological upgrade with newer weapons and avionics to increase the effectiveness
of the attack platform an extended service life into future decades service officials
say ac-130 gunship work involves upgrading the plane with weapons targeting systems and
sensor packages colonel robert toth chief of our tactical aircraft special operations and
combat search and rescue division told scout warrior in an interview early variants of
the ac-130 gunship first entered combat in the late 1960s during the vietnam war later
variants served in the Gulf War war on terror and the war in Afghanistan among other mission
the gunships operated by both the Air Force and Special Operations Command are often used
to support Special Operations fighters on the ground engaged in combat the aircraft
is known for its 105 millimeter side firing cannon which enable it to fire from a side
axis position during close in combat supporting ground troops the ac-130 gunship also has a 25
millimeter Gatling gun and a 40 millimeter weapon according to Air Force statement the
Lockheed Boeing built aircraft uses 4 allison c-56 a 1500 prop engines each with 4,300 shaft
horsepower the 155 thousand pound aircraft has a 133 foot wingspan and hit speeds of 300 miles
per hour its crew consists of a pilot copilot navigator fire control officer electronic warfare
officers flight engineer TV operator infrared detection operator loadmaster and four aerial
Gunners the ac-130 spooky 2 gunship is a standard c-130 transport aircraft engineered for close air
support combat it's 105 millimeter gun called an m102 howitzer fires 300-pound high-explosive
shells at a firing rate of 10 round a minute according to a report in Popular Mechanics
the weapon has a range of up to seven miles and is
the largest gun ever operated from a US Air Force aircraft
the aircraft's 25 millimeter Gatling gun the G au 12 is the same weapon now on the f-35
Joint Strike Fighter the weapon fires both high explosive incendiary and armor-piercing
incendiary rounds against enemy fighters buildings and light vehicle in a recent
attack ac-130 gunship an a-10 warthog close air support aircraft together destroyed an
Isis fuel convoy of more than a hundred vehicles c-130 fleet the ac-130 gunships
make up a small portion of a fleet of roughly 500 c-130 planes throughout the Air Force and
Special Operations Command top explain the cargo planes are used to air drop supplies
equipment weapons and troops in forward deployed locations there's a propeller-driven aircraft the
c-130s are able to fly and land in more rugged conditions and withstand harsh weather such as
obscuring the propellers make the aircraft engine less susceptible to debris flying in
and causing operational problems for the engine it really allows you to do that tactical movement
of equipment and personnel to take the aeroplane to the last tactical mile a lot of our transport
strategic airlift is are meant to go to a hard run away somewhere and then they
turn over the cargo to be moved to the forward areas to a c-130 or a vehicle the c-130 allows
you to take that cargo and land on a smaller runway or in an unimproved airfield top at it
c-130s are used for domestic international and warzone transportation including homeland
security disaster relief and supply delivery among other things there are probably missions
that have yet to be dreamed up for the sea birthday the fleet consists of 135
modern c-130j aircraft and 165 older c-130 hechas which have been around since the 80s
also mc-130j is a specifically modified airlifted engineer to
transport army green berets Navy SEALs and Army Rangers they are essentially ac-130j
further modified with defense systems with radar countermeasures infrared radar and
advanced sensors for specialized missions they can also perform in-flight refueling
c130 modernization the air force remains vigilant about its c-130 fleet to ensure the airframes wing
box's avionics and communication systems remain safe and operational this is particularly true
of the older 1980s era c-130 hechas the thing that causes the greatest risk to the aeroplane
is the life of the wing we monitor the wing of the aircraft and as the wings get passed
our service life we bring the aeroplanes back in and bring in new structures with the primary
focus being the center wing box which is the area where the wings mount to the fuselage tothe set
as for when a c-130 is in need of maintenance upgrades to preserve and maintain service life
the Air Force use an assessment metric referred to as the equivalent baseline hours the wing box
is a change once the aircraft reaches a certain severity factor in its operational service time
this is necessary because the wear and tear or impact of missions upon the airplane can
vary greatly depending upon a range of factors such as the altitude at which the plane is flag
low level flight maybe three to four times the severity factor of flying at a higher
level it's also by January of 2020 the entire fleet of c-130s will need to comply with an FAA
mandate and be equipped with systems that will relay aircraft position to a greater fidelity
back and forth between the aeroplane and the air traffic management authorities yet this
will allow them to sequence more aircraft closer together and enhance an ability to move comets
avionics modernization program increment one involves adding new 8.33 radios to
the aircraft to improve communication along with initiatives to upgrade cockpit voice
recorders and digital data recorders c-130 will also receive new collision avoidance
technology designed to prevent the planes from hitting terrain or colliding with one
another midair increment one is currently ongoing and is slated to complete by 2019
EMP increment 2 involves a larger scale effort to integrate digital avionics throughout the
aeroplane increment 2 will require nine months to one year of work and be completed by 2028
this will allow us to bring the airplane from analog to digital integrate a glass cockpit and
use touchscreen displays we will get away from the old systems of avionics where we had dual driven
instrumentation where it's all digital this makes us able to process a lot more information on set
as part of c-130 modernization calculus the Air Force will consider retiring some c-130
hechas and replace them with the newly built c-130j the service has authority
to acquire an additional 20 c-130 J's we continue to evaluate where it makes sense
to retire an older aeroplane and instead put that money into buying new aeroplanes
you