The AC-130H bears the official USAF name of “Spectre.” The “J” model C-130, but for its characteristic six-bladed propellers, is externally similar to previous models, but on the inside it is very much a 21 st century aircraft. The ground troops’ affectionate nickname, “Spooky” endured, however, with the AC-130U. Air Force photoĮventually the elderly C-47s were replaced by newer airframes: the Fairchild C-119 and finally the C-130. The prototype will recieve modifications to become Air Force Special Operations Command’s next generation gunship, the AC-130J Ghostrider. The rifle-caliber mini-guns were supplemented by 20 mm VulcanGatling and 40 mm Bofors L/60 automatic cannon, and even a low-recoil version of the Army’s 105 mm howitzer.Īn MC-130J lands at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to receive modifications to become Air Force Special Operations Command’s next generation gunship, the AC-130J Ghostrider, Jan. The early AC-47s relied on parachute flares to see its targets, but were gradually upgraded by successive generations of electro-optical night-vision devices. Operating at night at low altitudes, these crude gunships delivered such an overwhelming volume of fire that they often saved outposts and villages from being overrun by North Vietnamese and Vietcong attacks. Air Force (USAF) gunship program go back to 1965 in Vietnam, when vintage Douglas C-47 Skytrains of the 4 th Air Commando Squadron were fitted with three 7.62mm Gatling-type miniguns firing through side windows and the cargo door. But for the AC-130 “gunship” version of this four-engined beast another word comes to mind: lethal.

Versatile, reliable and economical: it’s easy to understand what makes the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules the most successful military transport of all time.

What was the air force gunship nickname