The Lockheed AC-130, Spectre, is an American, large, ground-attack aircraft used by the US Air Force in low-intensity and anti-insurgent warfare since 1968. This heavy gunship is a derivative of the C-130 Hercules, which is the most widely used military transport plane. Because of its long-range flight capability (4,100 km), the AC-130 has a great advantage over helicopter gunships, which have limited range and service ceiling. It has been employed in the Vietnam War, the 1991 Desert Storm military campaign, the war in Afghanistan, and in the American invasion of Iraq. The last two variants of this attack aircraft, the AC-130U and AC-130W, are called 'Spooky' and 'Stinger II', respectively.
The Lockheed AC-130A, called 'Spectre', first flew in 1966, and it was introduced into service two years later, in July 1968. To fly sorties in Vietnam, the AC-130A and E versions were fitted with a magnetic anomaly detector system, which is called Black Crow (designated AN/ASD-5). It is a highly-sensitive passive device, with a phased-array antenna set up in nose radome. It could pick up localized deviations in the Earth's magnetic field normally used to detect submerged submarines. The Black Crow system was linked to the targeting computers of the AC-130A/E/H. This enabled the detection of the unshielded ignition coils of North Vietnamese trucks hidden under dense jungle foliage along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Technical Description
The Lockheed AC-130 is a large, four-engine monoplane of all-metal construction. It has a wide, barrel-shaped fuselage, with all the armament mounted on the port side of aircraft. Like its cargo counterpart, this airplane is fitted with shoulder-wing, with straight leading edge and a tapering trailing edge. It has a convention tail assembly, with a wide and straight horizontal stabilizer and a large tail fin. The cabin is unpressurized and the landing gear is retractable. The AC-130U is equipped with the AN/APQ-180, a synthetic aperture radar, for long-range target detection and identification.
Armament
The AC-130H version is equipped with one 105-mm howitzer; two 20-mm M61 Vulcan Gatling cannons; and a Bofords 40-mm cannon. All weapons are mounted to fire from the left hand side (port) while the aircraft flies in circle over and around the target.
Specifications (AC-130J)
Type: heavily-armed, attack aircraft
Length: 29.79 m (97 feet, 9 inches)
Wing Span: 40.41 m (132 feet, 7 inches)
Wing Area: 162.16 m2 (1,745.5 square feet)
Height: 11.73 m (38.6 feet)
Power Plant: four 4,300-HP, Rolls-Royce AE-2100D3 turboprop engines.
Maximum Speed: 480 km/h (300 mph)
Service Ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 feet)
Crew: 13
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| Above, an AC-130E takes off from US Air Force base. |
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| The AC-130A version used in Vietnam. You can see, two 20-mm M61 Vulcan Gatling guns sticking out of the fore portion of aircraft, and two 40-mm Bofors in middle of fuselage under wing. |