Lockheed C-130 Hercules variant
Lockheed C-130 Hercules AC-130A/E/H/J/U/W
A family of gunships derived from the Hercules, developed during the Vietnam War as "Project Gunship II" to replace the AC-47 Spooky. The prototype was converted in 1967 from a JC-130A and certified for combat that September. Successive generations — AC-130A, E, H, U, W, and the current J Ghostrider — have fought from Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq, armed with rotary cannons, a 105 mm howitzer, and integrated targeting sensors.
History
The AC-130 was born during the Vietnam War as "Project Gunship II," aimed at replacing the AC-47 Spooky gunship (Gunship I) with a platform able to fly faster, at higher altitude, and with better loiter endurance over the target. In 1967, JC-130A serial number 54-1626 was selected for conversion into the AC-130A prototype, modified at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with a night-vision telescope, an early forward-looking infrared device, and miniguns alongside rotary cannons facing the aircraft's left side. By September 1967 the aircraft was certified for combat testing and flown to Nha Trang Air Base in South Vietnam for a 90-day evaluation program.
Successive configurations followed that prototype: seven more airframes received the "Plain Jane" configuration in 1968, one more received the "Surprise Package" upgrade with 20 mm rotary cannons and a 40 mm Bofors cannon in 1969, and ten more AC-130As were modified under the "Pave Pronto" project in 1970. In total, 19 AC-130A conversions were completed, transferred to the Air Force Reserve in 1975 and retired in 1995. C-130Es converted under the "Pave Spectre" project produced 11 AC-130Es, of which 10 were later upgraded to AC-130H configuration, with 8 completed and in service until retirement in 2015; their armament combined two 20 mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannons (removed from 1994), a 40 mm Bofors cannon, and a 105 mm M102 howitzer.
The third generation, the AC-130U Spooky II, replaced the two 20 mm cannons with a single 25 mm GAU-12 cannon and an improved fire-control system; it remained in service until retirement in June 2020. In May 2012, twelve MC-130W Combat Spear/Dragon Spear aircraft were converted into gunships and renamed AC-130W Stinger II, retired in July 2022. The current generation, the AC-130J Ghostrider, is based on the MC-130J airframe; 32 aircraft had been procured as of 2014, and the first operational squadron, the 73rd Special Operations Squadron, began operating from Hurlburt Field, Florida, in 2018.
Operated exclusively by USAF special-operations squadrons based at Hurlburt Field and Cannon AFB, AC-130 gunships have fought in nearly every US conflict since the end of the Vietnam War, including the 1989 invasion of Panama and NATO missions in the Balkans during the 1990s.