What weapon is being used in this Reuters photo of an AC-130 ? Antimissile flares ? If so, is that how they are normally deployed ? It looks as if someone has just dumped a lit box of fireworks out the back end of the plane.
I’d guess flares, certainly.
Definitely flares. They’re used to counter missiles with infra-red seekers.
According to the FAS’s AC-130 page, that aircraft is fitted with the AN/ALE-47 flare and chaff dispensing system.