#ac-130h

[usafphantom2]

AC-130H

@ron_eisele via X

[nocternalrandomness]

4th Special Operations Squadron Specter

[c-130hercules]

Air to air front view of Special Operations Wing AC-130 Hercules gunship on a training mission over the Gulf of Mexico. 1986.

[titanium-rain]

[usafphantom2]

An AC-130H Spectre at Hurlburt Field 16th SOW. (a1c kimberly gilligan)

@kadonkey via X

[c-130hercules]

Evolution of the Air Force's AC-130 Gunship

Based on Lockheed’s four-engine turboprop transport and weaponized by Boeing, the deadly AC-130 “aerial battleship” had humble beginnings.

Douglas FC-47D tail no. 0-48579—the original “Puff the Magic Dragon”—carried three 7.62mm GE miniguns in makeshift mounts. (U.S. Air Force)

An AC-47’s miniguns, each firing at a rate of 6,000 rounds per minute, unleash on Viet Cong positions. (U.S. Air Force)

With its armament of twin 40mm cannons and a pair of 20mm rotary guns, this Spectre awaits its next mission in a revetment at Thailand’s Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force)

4th Special Operations Squadron crewmen operate an AC-130U’s 105mm gun. (U.S. Air Force)

To supplement the AC-130 in Vietnam, the Fairchild AC-119G and K were developed. (U.S. Air Force)

An AC-130H from the 16th Special Operations Squadron heads out on another mission. (U.S. Air Force)

[c-130hercules]

[c-130hercules]