Air Commando!: 1950-1975 - Twenty-five years at the Tip ... - AFSOC

PREDATOR
AC-130s Prowl the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Spectre: (spek'ter), n. 1. a spirit of a terrifying nature.
2. some object or source of terror or dread.
E its very first combat field evaluations in Southeast Asia in 1967-8, the C-130A
"Gunship II" alerted both Air Force and Army commanders they were on to something
special; something far beyond mere replacement of the womout AC-47 and AC-119
Gunships.
Despite their usefulness in armed reconnaissance missions, theater commanders saw
both the AC-47 and its immediate successor, the AC-119, as most effective in defending
isolated Vietnamese and Army Special r--------------------------------.
Forces camps. In this role the AC-47 and
AC-119s were defending allied troops
from trouble. The Gunship II was to
conduct a far more predatory mission,
something that sent the huge Gunship
actually looking for trouble.
So heavily armed that during early
development stages it was initially
designated Project "Gunboat," the
C-130A could hardly be considered
anything but a predator. Compared to the
three mini guns on the AC-4 7. or the four
found on AC-119 Shadow, the Gunship
II boasted four miniguns and four 20mm
cannon. Later models added a modified
Army 105mm field howitzer, the largest
gun ever placed in an aircraft. And that
was just the armament.
IR
The Gunship II's advanced electronic BLACK CROW Lti1~Ra
sensors stripped the night away from the '-----------------------------------'
enemy as had never been done before.
This early AC-130 gunship prototype
The Night Observation Device (NOD) was an image light intensifier that magnified moon depicts the sophisticated sensors for
target acquisition as well as different
and star light to provide a clear view of ground activity to the NOD operator on all but the
caliber weapons. Soon after the
darkest nights. Another night device was the Forward Looking Infrared (FUR) system, a unauthorized publication in a U.S. defense
sensor that picked up heat emissions from both the human body and vehicle motors industry magazine of the details of the
regardless of light conditions.
then-classified sensors, gunship crews
fighting over the Ho Chi Minh noticed new
The prototype C-130 Gunship II began its first combat evaluation in late 1967. Flying North Vietnamese countermeasures
armed reconnaissance over both Laos and Vietnam, the testbed Gunship was an instant intended to defeat the sensors. (USAF
success, especially as a truck killer. Air Force Major General William G. Moore, Air photo)
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