Here is an article I got from janes.com. Its a good read. Reply with any comments.

Attack of the Killer Herc





The US Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) is conducting several efforts that could improve the performance and increase the lethality of the AC-130 gunships operated by US Air Force Special Operations Command. The work could also provide these and other C-130 Hercules models with greatly expanded capabilities.

The NSWCDD, which had earlier worked on integrating gun armament into the baseline AC-130 models, has conducted the Killer Hercules Demonstration Program - generally referred to as 'Killer Herc' - at the request of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. This involved four major elements. The first two comprised firing the Hellfire II air-to-surface missile from a C-130 and deploying and controlling an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from the same platform.

The third involved a ground-based demonstration of a fire-control and mission-planning system that would give the AC-130 an autonomous ability to plan and conduct engagements against time-sensitive targets, using either guns or missiles. The final element is an engineering study to assess the currently installed gun systems and submit recommendations to improve first-shot kill capability, provide more stored kills, and define an integration program that would allow the weapons to be operated while the cabin remains pressurised.

The missile and UAV aspects were examined during a series of tests with gradually increasing scope between November 2002 and January 2003, culminating in a successful end-to-end demonstration on Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona at the end of the latter month. This employed a commercial C-130A, provided by International Air Response, in which the cargo compartment was fitted with a workstation in the forward area and a UAV air-delivery system located aft of it, just forward of the rear cargo ramp. The workstation was designed to provide space and power for four operators: one for Hellfire, two controlling the UAV and one handling coverage from the nine cameras distributed around the aircraft to monitor the test events.

An M299 Hellfire launcher was mounted on the outboard starboard pylon.

The C-130 deployed a DRS Sentry UAV in a box launcher that was simply rolled off the rear ramp and descended beneath a parachute. Explosive bolts fired after 10 seconds to open the bottom door of the box, and the UAV was released after a further 10 seconds. It then pitched up to flying attitude and proceeded to the target area. The UAV carried a FLIR Systems Ultra 7500 lightweight sensor turret, which accommodates a thermal camera based on a 320x240-element array of indium antimonide detectors and carrying a continuous-zoom telescope; together with a low-light television camera with x18 magnification.

Why would they use Hellfire? It has no better performance than the 105mm that allready is on AC-130:s To give the Gunship "longer reach" and more fire power i would use AGM-65 Maverics..

*edit*

Lets say: 3/4x triple launch rail in both wings.. total 18-24 Maverics carried..

[Edited on 24-8-2003 by FULCRUM]

sweet. i want one
I used to build models of the ac130
beautifully horrible

This all sounds reminiscent of Dale Brown's "Old Dog" Megafortresses! (Yes, I know they were B52s...)

Mavricks are old now, and I dont believe they are being updated anymore, unlike the Hellfire.

Since when has there been a guided 105?