The AC-130 celebrates it’s 50th anniversary this year as a member of the finest warfighting team on the planet! The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily armed, long-endurance ground-attack variant of the C-130 Hercules transport fixed-wing aircraft. It carries a wide array of anti-ground oriented weapons that are integrated with sophisticated sensors, navigation, and fire-control systems. Unlike other military fixed-wing aircraft, the AC-130 relies on visual targeting. Because its large profile and low operating altitudes (around 7,000 ft) make it an easy target, it usually flies close air support missions at night. The airframe is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, while Boeing is responsible for the conversion into a gunship and for aircraft support. Developed during the Vietnam War as ‘Project Gunship II’, the AC-130 replaced the Douglas AC-47 Spooky, or ‘Gunship I’.This aircraft provides armed air defense for US coalition and joint partners across the globe.
Lockheed AC-130 Gunship
