# I.D. this aircraft? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-aircraft/370708 "2006-08-29T20:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-aircraft/370708/1 "2006-08-29T20:13:46Z")
For awhile, I’ve been trying to ID an aircraft I’ve seen get blown up in some stock footage of Gulf War-era “smart bomb” strikes. However, _finding_ said footage has proven difficult. Finally, I’ve lucked out—yesterday afternoon, the Military Channel had a documentary called _Gun Camera: Moving Targets_, which featured the [url=http://home.comcast.net/~Ranchoth/Mystplane2.jpg]image of the aircraft I’ve been looking for, in the opening titles.\* Now…can anyone tell me _what_ aircraft this is? The fuselage looks too long and thin to be a C-130, and the nose seems too blunt. Likewise, the wings (which, I’m not sure if you can see in the image, look like they have four engine nacelles) and horizontal stab look to be _just_ a bit too thin for a C-130. So…can anyone help? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-aircraft/370708/2 "2006-08-29T20:18:06Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > For awhile, I’ve been trying to ID an aircraft I’ve seen get blown up in some stock footage of Gulf War-era “smart bomb” strikes. However, _finding_ said footage has proven difficult. > > Finally, I’ve lucked out—yesterday afternoon, the Military Channel had a documentary called _Gun Camera: Moving Targets_, which featured the [url=http://home.comcast.net/~Ranchoth/Mystplane2.jpg]image of the aircraft I’ve been looking for, in the opening titles.\* > > Now…can anyone tell me _what_ aircraft this is? The fuselage looks too long and thin to be a C-130, and the nose seems too blunt. Likewise, the wings (which, I’m not sure if you can see in the image, look like they have four engine nacelles) and horizontal stab look to be _just_ a bit too thin for a C-130. > > So…can anyone help? Don’t you think it’s a Soviet plane of some sort? Why would an American/Allied plane bomb a C-130? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-aircraft/370708/3 "2006-08-29T20:27:40Z")
> [@Hippy Hollow](#): > > Don’t you think it’s a Soviet plane of some sort? Why would an American/Allied plane bomb a C-130? Could have been a “scrap” C-130 used in a U.S. bombing range, or it could have been a _foreign_ operated C-130. Also, it _looks_ quite a bit like a C-130, overall. (And let me [fix that link.](http://home.comcast.net/~Ranchoth/Mystplane2.jpg)) ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-aircraft/370708/4 "2006-08-29T20:27:58Z")
The [An 12](http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/an-12.htm) looks similar. ---
**Author:** ![Omphaloskeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bcef8e/32.png) [@Omphaloskeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omphaloskeptic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-aircraft/370708/5 "2006-08-29T21:00:07Z")
[This page](http://www.blackburn-buccaneer.co.uk/0_Gulf-missions.html) gives details on the mission and target; it claims it’s an An-12 (though apparently a captured Kuwaiti C-130 was also targeted in the same mission). ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-aircraft/370708/6 "2006-08-29T22:38:25Z")
AWESOME! I can sleep at night, now. Thanks!