C-130 Hercules

by Martin W Bowman

  AC-130U sensor operator.

  AC-130 gunship firing a broadside at dusk.

  On 18 June an AC-130A was downed by a SA-7 shoulder fired SAM which struck the No.3 engine and blew off the wing. On 21/22 December AC-130A was downed while truck hunting along the Hồ Chi Minh Trail at 7,800 feet by 37-mm AA. Although the 57-mm fire known in Laos was not as severe at An Lộc, the gunship crewmen detested equally the concentrations of 37-mm fire. The 37-mm had higher projectile velocity, which reduced the effectiveness of evasive action, while its greater rate of fire gave substantial weight in barrage. The SA-7 became the greatest concern for the gunship crews, although alertness, evasive action and the use of decoy flares held down the frequency of hits. Crews reported as many as six or seven SA-7 firings on certain missions. High threat sectors were identified and avoided when possible. One AC-130 was hit and severely damaged by a SAM on 12 May, after sighting four other launchings the same day. The crew barely managed an emergency landing at Tân Sơn Nhứt. The only sure defence against the SA-7 however, was in altitude. The higher altitudes meant some loss in AC-130 weapon effectiveness - the 20mm became almost useless because of loss of projectile velocity at this distance, while the accuracy of the 40- and 105-mm appeared only slightly affected.

  In June 1973 all remaining AC-130Es were upgraded to AC-130H standard when they were reengined with T56-A-15 turboprops. The AC-130H also differed from the AC-130E in having its 7.62 miniguns omitted. In 1978 AC-130H aircraft were retrofitted with an in-flight refuelling receptacle and other improvements. Each AC-130H/U is crewed by five officers: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, fire-control officer and electronic warfare officer - and nine enlisted men: flight engineer, low-light TV operator, infra red detection set operator, five aerial gunners and a load master.

  In July 1987 Rockwell was awarded a contract to cover the research and development of a new AC-130U Spectre gunship to replace the Special Operation Squadrons’ ageing AC-130A. Thirteen new C-130H airframes fire-control radar, derived from the APQ-70 carried by the F-15E Strike Eagle, AN/AAQ-117 forward-looking infra-red (FLIR) mounted under the port side of the nose, or turretmounted Bell Aerospace all-light-level TV (ALLTV) in the port main undercarriage sponson for true adverse weather ground-attack operations. The ‘Black Crow’ truck-ignition sensor and radome and separate beacon-tracking radar used on earlier gunships were omitted. Observer stations are included on the three under fuselage chaff and flare dispensers (Capable of dispensing 300 chaff bundles and either 90 MJU7 or 180 M206 1R decoy flares), Texas Instruments AN/AAQ-117 FLIR countermeasures and ITT Avionics AN/ALQ-172 jammer, are all fitted to increase survivability in a low-to-medium-threat environment. Delivery to the 16th SOW began in 1994, at which time the eighteen AC-130Hs were transferred to the AFRes 919th SOW at Duke Field, Florida whose AC-130As were retired. The AC-130Us or ‘U-boats’ as they are affectionately known by crews provide other special operations’ roles, including escort, surveillance and reconnaissance/interdiction in addition to the primary precision fire support mission. All eighteen AC-130Us are operated by the 4th SOS, 16th SOW, at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

  AC-130H 69-6573 Heavy Metal gunship is directed to a parking spot on the ramp in February 1995. US forces are bringing in personnel, materiel and equipment to support Operation ‘United Shield’, which is the withdrawal of United Nations peacekeepers from Mogadishu, Somalia. Thirty-two AC-130J ‘Ghostrider’ aircraft based on the MC-130J; 32 aircraft are being procured to replace the AC-130H. [USAF photo by A1C Randy S. Mallard]

  AC-130U 89-0514 Maximum Carnage.

  In 1990 the Air Force Reserve’s 711th SOS deployed some AC-130As to Turkey for Operation ‘Proven Force’, the ‘second front’ for the coming war with Iraq. On 7 January 1991 the joint task force (JTF) was activated at Ramstein AB, Germany and one of its components, the Special Operations Task Force, was to seek and rescue downed Allied pilots. On 17 January three EC-130s from the 43rd ECS, 66th ECW, at Sebach AB, Germany were among the European units that deployed to Incirlik AB, Turkey. Eight AC-130 gunships meanwhile and six MC-130E ‘Combat Talon Is’ were deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation ‘Desert Storm’ missions in the Gulf War, which began on 16 January. (While defending a USMC force under attack by Iraqi forces on 31 January, AC-130H 69-6567 call-sign ‘Spirit 03’ in the 16th SOS was shot down (probably by a handheld SAM) 68 miles south-south-east of Kuwait City with the loss of all fourteen crew).

  ‘Combat Talon Is’ of the 8th SOS delivered the 15,000lb BLU-82/B ‘Big Blue’ fuel-air explosive bomb, the largest and heaviest conventional bomb in the USAF inventory. (One of the largest conventional weapons ever to be used the BLU-82B was outweighed only by a few earthquake bombs, thermobaric bombs and demolition (bunker buster) bombs. (Some of these include the ‘Grand Slam’ and T12 earthquake bombs of late WWII and more currently, the Soviet Air Force FOAB and USAF GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb and the Massive Ordnance Penetrator). On 15 February ‘Combat Talons’ began dropping BLU-82 ‘daisy-cutters’ (as they were nicknamed in Việtnam) on Iraqi minefields as a prelude to the ground offensive. The ‘Big Blues’ were also used by MC-130Es of Special Operations Command against Iraqi troop concentrations with devastating effect. Eleven BLU-82Bs were palletized and dropped in five night missions during the 1991 Gulf War, all from Special Operations MC-130 Combat Talons. The initial drop tested the ability of the bomb to clear or breach minefields; however, no reliable assessments of mine clearing effectiveness are publicly available. Later, bombs were dropped as much for their psychological effect as for their anti-personnel effects.9

  MC-130 82-04272 Fulton 7th SOS conducting training for special air operations and related activities.

  ‘Bombs’ containing 16,000,000 leaflets were also dropped by ‘Combat Talon’ and HC-130N/P aircraft, with messages telling Iraqi soldiers how to surrender to the ground forces; other ‘PSYOP’ missions dropped leaflets telling Iraqis that more BLU-82s were on the way. EC-130Es helped to psychologically prepare the battlefield for ‘Desert Storm’, the 193rd SOW being one of the first special operations’ units to be sent to the Gulf region. On 22 November the unit began ‘PSYOP’ operations, broadcasting the ‘Voice of America’ into Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. A crash modifications programme, lasting several weeks, upgraded the EC-130Es so that the ‘Commando Solo’ aircraft could broadcast in the local TV format for this region. The 193rd SOG’s leaflet drops and broadcast readings from the Koran and testimonials from Iraqi prisoners were instrumental in persuading Iraqi troops to surrender. When surveyed, Iraqi PoWs indicated that PSYOP radio broadcasts reached 58 per cent of the military target audience; of those, 46 per cent indicated that the broadcasts had an influence on their decision to surrender.

  In June and July 1993 Somalia pushed the war in Bosnia off the world’s front pages as American air units fought to prevent General Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid and his supporters retaking control of Mogadishu. Aidid’s fighters were blamed for the killing of twenty-three Pakistani UN peacekeepers on 5 June. AC-130H gunships and Cobra helicopters of a US Army quick-reaction force were used in day and night actions against Aidid and his supporters in Mogadishu. In a one-hour attack on 11/12 June the ‘Spectre’ gunships and Cobra helicopters destroyed Aidid’s radio station as American soldiers led attacks on his command headquarters and weapons caches. ‘Spectres’ attacked ammunition dumps and garages housing ‘technicals’ close to Aidid’s residence. While conducting a routine mission in support of UN forces on 14 March 1994, AC-130H ‘Spectre’ 69-6576 call-sign ‘Jockey 14’ in the 16th SOS, 56th SOW crashed in the sea four miles south of Malindi, Kenya after takeoff from Mombasa after a howitzer round exploded in the gun-tube and caused a fire in the left-hand engines. Eight crew members died. Three of the six survivors stayed with the aircraft during the crash-landing while the other three parachuted to safety.

  Captain Thomas Bernard, a 36th Airlift Squadron Hercules pilot performing a visual confirmation with night vision goggles during a training mi
ssion over Kanto Plain, Japan, 14 October 2015. Yokota Air Base aircrews regularly conduct night flying operations to ensure they are prepared to respond to a variety of contingencies throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (USAF photo/Osakabe Yasuo)

  An MC-130E from the 711th Special Operations Squadron, 919th Special Operations Wing, drops the last operational BLU-82 (Bomb Live Unit bomb) at the Utah Test and Training Range on 15 July 2008. The BLU-82B/C-130 weapon system, known under programme ‘Commando Vault’ and nicknamed ‘Daisy Cutter’ in Vietnam and in Afghanistan is an American 15,000 lb conventional bomb, delivered from either a C-130 or an MC-130. The BLU-82 was retired in 2008 and replaced with the more powerful, 11-ton GBU-43/B or MOAB (‘mother of all bombs’), which was first dropped on 13 April 2017, on an Islamic State stronghold in eastern Afghanistan, which killed 36 ISIS militants. It is the largest nonnuclear bomb ever used in combat.

  The USAF has also used AC-130 gunships in Operation ‘Uphold Democracy’ in Haiti in 1994. AC-130s took part in Operation ‘Assured Response’ in Liberia in 1996 and in Operation ‘Silver Wake’ in 1997, the evacuation of American non-combatants from Albania. The AC-130U gunship set a new record for the longest sustained flight by any C-130 on 22 and 23 October 1997, when two AC-130U gunships flew 36 hours nonstop from Hurlburt Field, Florida to Taegu Air Base (Daegu), South Korea, being refuelled seven times in the air by KC-135 tankers. The two gunships took on 410,000lbs of fuel. Gunships also were part of the build-up of US forces in 1998 to compel Iraq to allow UNSCOM weapons inspections. AC-130s took part in the NATO missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo during the 1990s.

  AC-130A 53-3129 First Lady, the first production C-130A to come off the line. AC-130H 69-6576 Preditor, Bad Company, Widow Maker, which was lost on 15 March 1994 over the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya, near the town of Malindi with the loss of eight crewmembers. Aircraft and crew were supporting the ongoing operations in and around Mogadishu, Somalia.

  AFRC WC-130J 97-5305 at Dobbins AFB. The WC-130 provides vital tropical cyclone forecasting information and is the primary weather data collector for the National Hurricane Centre, supplemented by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s WP-3D Orion. They penetrate tropical cyclones and hurricanes at altitudes ranging from 500 to 10,000 feet above the ocean surface depending upon the intensity of the storm.

  The US has used gunships in Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ during the War in Afghanistan, 2001–2014 and the Iraq War (Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’), 2003-2011. AC-130 strikes were directed by Special Forces on known Taliban locations during the early days of the war in Afghanistan. The day after arriving in Afghanistan, the AC-130s attacked Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces near the city of Konduz and were directly responsible for the city’s surrender the next day. On 26 November 2001 Spectres were called in to put down a rebellion at the prison fort of Qala-i-Janghi. The 16th SOS flew missions over Mazar-i-Sharif, Konduz, Kandahar, Shkin, Asadabad, Bagram, Baghran, Tora Bora and virtually every other part of Afghanistan. The Spectre participated in countless operations within Afghanistan, performing on-call close air support and armed reconnaissance. In March 2002 three AC-130 Spectres provided 39 crucial combat missions in support of Operation ‘Anaconda’ in Afghanistan. During the intense fighting, the gunships expended more than 1,300 40 mm and 1,200 105 mm rounds.

  Close air support was the main mission of the AC-130 in Iraq. Night after night, at least one AC– 130 was in the air to fulfil one or more air support requests (ASRs). A typical mission had the AC–130 supporting a single brigade’s ASRs followed by aerial refuelling and another 2 hours with another brigade or SOF team. The use of AC-130s in places like Fallujah, urban settings where insurgents were among crowded populations of non combatants, was criticized by human rights groups. AC-130s were also used for intelligence gathering with their sophisticated long-range video, infrared and radar sensors.

  In 2007 when US Special Operations forces used the AC-130 in attacks on suspected al-Qaeda militants in Somalia, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) initiated a programme to upgrade the armament of AC-130s. The test programme planned for the 25 mm GAU-12/U and 40 mm Bofors cannon on the AC-130U gunships to be replaced with two 30mm Mk 44 Bushmaster II cannons. In 2007, the Air Force modified four AC-130U gunships as test platforms for the Bushmasters. These were referred to as AC-130U Plus 4 or AC-130U+4. AFSOC, however, cancelled its plans to install the new cannons on its fleet of AC-130Us. It has since removed the guns and reinstalled the original 40 mm and 25mm cannons and returned the planes to combat duty. Brigadier General Bradley A. Heithold, AFSOC’s director of plans, programs, requirements and assessments, said on 11 August 2008 that the effort was cancelled because of problems with the Bushmaster’s accuracy in tests ‘at the altitude we were employing it’. There were also schedule considerations that drove the decision, he said. There were also plans to possibly replace the 105mm cannon with a breech-loading 120 mm M120 mortar and to give the AC-130 a standoff capability using either the AGM-114 Hellfire missile, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (based on the Hydra 70 rocket), or the ‘Viper Strike’ glide bomb.

  Pilot and co-pilot from the 73rd Special Operations Squadron prepare to return to base an AC-130W ‘Stinger II’ after a live-fire mission in support of ‘Emerald Warrior’ at Hurlburt Field, Florida, 27 April 2015. The AC-130Ws are conversions of former MC-130W ‘Dragon Spear’ MC-130Ws. (USAF photo by Senior Airman Cory D. Payne)

  In May 2009, following a lapse of plans to acquire and develop an AC-27J ‘gunship light’ to replace the aging, operations-stressed AC-130 inventory, the Air Force began exploring an option of converting MC-130Ws into interim gunships. The ‘Dragon Spears’ are equipped with a Bushmaster II GAU-23/A 30mm gun (an improved version of the MK44 MOD0 30mm gun), sensors, communications systems and precision-guided munitions in the Precision Strike Package. The PGMs are to be in the form of the Gunslinger weapons system, a launch tube designed to deploy up to ten GBU-44/B ‘Viper Strike’ or AGM-176 ‘Griffin’ small standoff munitions in quick succession. Initial supplemental funds to the 2010 Defence Authorization Bill were for two kits to be installed in 2010. On 17 November 2009 a contract was awarded to Alliant Techsystems to produce 30 mm ammunition for use by the ‘Dragon Spear’.

  In September 2010 the Air Force awarded L-3 Communications a $61 million contract to convert eight MC-130W ‘Combat Spear’ special-mission aircraft to give them a gunship-like attack capability. Under the terms of the deal, L-3 will perform modifications that will allow the aircraft to take the weapons kits, which are called ‘precision strike packages’. MC-130Ws fitted with the weapons will be known as Dragon Spears. Air Force Special Operations Command is converting all twelve MC-130W aircraft to ‘Dragon Spears’ in order to relieve the relentless operational demands on its regular AC-130 gunships until new AC-130Js enter the fleet. The MC-130W ‘Dragon Spear’ went from concept to flying with a minimum capability in less than 90 days and from concept to deployment in eighteen months. Its success led to the William J. Perry Award and it will be the model for the AC-130J gunship programme.

  The first converted MC-130W arrived in Afghanistan in late 2010. It fired its first weapon one month after arriving, killing five Taliban with a ‘Hellfire’ missile. By September 2013, fourteen aircraft had been converted into gunships. The conversion adds a sensor package consisting of day/night video cameras with magnification capability. The weapons currently consist of ten ‘Griffin’ missiles and four ‘Hellfires’, with an optional 30 mm autocannon. The use of missiles allow the gunships to operate during the daytime because they can fly above the range of ground fire. The cannon is available but optional, as missiles provide sufficient firepower and less weight would need to be carried.

  As of July 2010 there were eight AC-130H and seventeen AC-130U aircraft in active-duty service. The MC-130W ‘Dragon Spear’ was renamed the AC-130W ‘Stinger II’ in 2011. In March 2011, the US Air Force deployed two AC-130U gunships to take part in
Operation ‘Odyssey Dawn’, the US military intervention in Libya, which eventually came under NATO as Operation ‘Unified Protector’.

  The C-130J Super Hercules programme reached another significant milestone with the delivery of its 300th aircraft, MC-130J Commando II 15737, which was ferried from the Lockheed Martin facility on 18 December 2013 by a USAF crew for delivery to the US Air Force Special Operations Command. The Commando II supports such missions as in-flight refuelling, infiltration/exfiltration and aerial delivery and resupply of special operations forces.