AC-130J Spooky

Just parked up one of the latest AC-130 Spooky's, Hells Belle, and man is she impressive. She now holds 2 outboard pylons that drop SDB's as well as getting fitted to fire Hellfires. It also holds a bunch of AgM 175 Griffin mini-missiles.
www.defenseindustrydaily.com...

It's kinda sad to the the 40mm and the 25mm gatlin gun go, cuz the 30mm just doesn't seem manly next to that 105mm howitzer. Sadly, nobody makes barrels or ammo for the 40mm gun. Oh well.
That said, she is am impressive killin machine.

a reply to: lakenheath24

Something to look at...

Big, bad, and dangerous. She sure is pretty, though...

a reply to: seagull

LOL...thanks. I can't take pics on the flightline...
Inside is amazing if you havent been in a 130 for awhile. Puts a fighter to shame with all the gizmos. She's got more TV's than a Buffalo Wild Wings.

a reply to: seagull

I wonder why the refueling drogues?

Seems kind of crazy to put a bunch of extra fuel on a fire breathing dragon!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Yeah, I was looking at that, maybe a different version? This one today didn't have refueling pods and it only had the 2 pylons for the SDB's. I was told Hellfire is in the works so maybe that is a drawing incorporating future capabilities.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I wondered about that, too...

Maybe for ferrying purposes? Or missions attack helicopters are on with them? That seems a little dangerous, but it's the only thing I can think of, other than the ferrying.

I'm sure Zaph will be along to enlighten us all.

a reply to: lakenheath24
Looking at your username and previous posts you've done, are you based in the UK? Is the spooky based at the Heath or just passing by ? I appreciate if you can't answer any of those questions

Edit: cool video of the griffin missile. The C-130 excretes missiles!!

A more serious question, how effective was the gatlin gun on the gunships ? I'd image over a certain height it may of not been that accurate

I was at lakeneath 96 to 04. I worked weapons on 15E's. I retired and cake back here 4 years ago. I work transient alert now.

The 30mm is highly accurate but not a very big explosion. It looks like they were trying to reduce collateral damage from spraying a thousand rounds of 25mm!

The 130 here is a Hurlbert field bird....just passing through.


a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

Loiter time with Overwatch operations is an issue so refueling while on Mission is desirable.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Because that's not an official rendering. It was created by a Deviantart account. That rendering is FOS. The J model carries a 30mm (that is turning out to be a POS), and a 105 that wasn't initially included, as well as the Griffin and SDB. It doesn't carry refueling tanks, or HARMs.

a reply to: lakenheath24

The current 30mm, that's on the J is a joke. The gun shakes so badly that it loses calibration, and can't be used for danger close missions.

taskandpurpose.com...

originally posted by: lakenheath24
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Yeah, I was looking at that, maybe a different version? This one today didn't have refueling pods and it only had the 2 pylons for the SDB's. I was told Hellfire is in the works so maybe that is a drawing incorporating future capabilities.

Drogues came from Harvest Hawk for the Marines. The AF is integrating a lot of the things the Marines learned. I don't think that's going to include drogues. I wouldn't read anything out of that picture. Fan art. Harvest Hawk already did the work for Hellfires, too.

I had the opportunity to be chatty cathy with the AF guys doing the testing about two years ago in Florida. I haven't paid attention, so I don't know what's survived and what got the boot (the 105 got the boot initially, and then the crews begged for it back, for example). They had at that time started looking at nearly anything people dreamed up. One of the zillion things tried included crates of SDB's in the hold with a make shift slide to kick them off the ramp-- very high tech.

a reply to: RadioRobert

The J has the 105 and 30, as well as the SDB and Griffin. The outer pylon where the supposed drogues are is where the Griffons and SDBs are carried.

That doesn't sound nearly as fun as kicking them off the back of the ramp.

a reply to: RadioRobert

There's always the fun of having to recenter the 30 every time you pull the trigger, or watching it impact everywhere but where you're aiming.

a reply to: RadioRobert

One of the zillion things tried included crates of SDB's in the hold with a make shift slide to kick them off the ramp-- very high tech.

No bugs. No mid-mission malfunctions. ...and if the 30mm is as bug-riddled as it appears to be, fewer bugs the better.

a reply to: Zaphod58

The safest place to stand, it seems, is right in front of it.

Not so good, when it's a gun...

The contractor needs a carpet call, and fix it, at their expense. They've been making guns for hundreds of years. Electronic sights and other related tech for a half century, there's no excuse...none, for this.

a reply to: seagull

But AFSOC says everything is roses.

a reply to: seagull

I can give you an informed guess from similar experiences on how this happens. Whoever designed the mount (Orbital or a sub-) had a perfectly dandy mount. And then the program office decided it now had to take up less room and/or weigh less because they were rearranging the hold. So now the engineers are struggling to make the new cost-capability -weight triangle work.

Just a guess.

It’s essentially the same gun as on the AC-130W, he said, with equivalent accuracy requirements.

the mount on the gun [is] slightly different

www.airforcetimes.com...