I just saw a quick clip that showed the 3 primary weapons of the AC-130 Gunship.
It included a 105mm Howitzer, which I was aware of, but seeing the footage made me wonder.
Are those gunners airmen who ended up getting artillery training, or do they second some redlegs from the Army to serve in the crew?
All USAF folks. Or at least it was all USAF back in the early 1980s when I was working closely with them.
I don’t know who teaches at their tech school. By now almost certainly all USAF folks.
But back in the 1960s when AC-130s were new, good bet some Army folks probably got seconded for awhile to train the trainers. The shooters, the loaders, and the maintainers.
The gunners only supervise the mechanized guns. The guns all self-load these days. They’re fired from the cockpit. And they’re aimed by aiming the whole airplane.
Not much for a traditional redkeg to do.
Since we have a factual answer, can I just say that I think the AC-130 is one of the most badass weapons ever invented? If I were a supervillain…
Indeed, and what’s remarkable is that no equivalent exists in other militaries. It’s unique to America alone.
Other air forces have AWACS, tankers, fighters, drones, bombers, cargo transports, ASW aircraft, ELINT/SIGINT whatever. But I don’t know of any other military using anything AC-130ish.
Not that they couldn’t. Just that they apparently decided not to, but America thought “Artillery is nice. Airplanes are nice. You know what…”
It’s an incredible system. Against defenseless tribesmen with zero anti-aircraft capability. It’s a defenseless sitting duck otherwise.
The USA has spent most of the last 40 years fighting the equivalent of UFC dudes vs toddlers. That can produce a very skewed idea of how good you are or aren’t vs. more capable adversaries.
Huh. I always assumed that the AC-130’s main 105mm gun was a tank gun, probably an L7 variant. After all - direct fire, relatively short range, had to be a tank gun, right? But apparently, it’s an actual howitzer for some reason. I didn’t even know light howitzers existed any more.
This. It’s exceedingly vulnerable to even the most primitive air defenses. In 1991 an AC-130 made the mistake of still being on station when dawn broke during Desert Storm during the Battle of Khafji and was lost along with its entire crew to a MANPAD. All 14 crewmembers were killed in action, which made this single action responsible for the majority of USAF combat deaths in the war, which totaled 20.
Spirit 03 - Downed AC-130H During Desert Storm - SOF News
Yeah, they’re still around, and in more modern versions than the M102 used by the AC-130. The US Army still uses them, used them in Afghanistan, and they are in use in Ukraine.
In US service as the M119
And in the UK as the L118/L119