Richardcyoung.com

  • Home
  • Debbie Young
  • Jimmy Buffett
  • Key West
  • Your Survival Guy
  • How We Are Different
  • Paris
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • The Swiss Way
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • Dick Young
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool
  • Anti-Gun Control
  • Anti-Digital Currency
  • Joel Salatin & Alfie Oakes
  • World Gold Mine Production
  • Fidelity & Wellington Since 1971
  • Hillsdale College
  • Babson College
  • Contact Us

AC-130U Gunship

March 2, 2010 By The Editors

Under a contract awarded in 1987, Boeing manufactures and supports the AC-130U Gunship aircraft for the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. The AC-130U represents a major advancement over previous generation gunships. Existing C-130 airframes receive the latest sensor technologies and fire control systems that, together, substantially increase the gunship’s combat effectiveness. The AC-130U features increased weapon stand-off range, improved first-shot accuracy, and a state-of-the-art suite of electronic and infrared countermeasures that greatly enhance the AC-130U’s survivability against modern threats. The AC-130U design also incorporates features to enhance maintainability and supportability. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlZQbxb1KbI&feature=fvst Firing at 1,800 shots per minute and mounted on a fully trainable gun mount, the GAU-12 provides twice the lethality of its former 20 mm cannons, a longer stand-off range and greater accuracy. The operator can select from a series of burst lengths to tailor effectiveness of the GAU-12 for each target due to a fully automated ammunition handling system, capable of carrying 3,000 rounds. The gunship also carries both a 40 mm Bofors cannon, capable of up to 100 shots per minute, and a 105 mm howitzer that can be fired six times a minute. To maximize accuracy, both large guns also are installed on trainable gun mounts. The AC-130U has a dual-target attack capability that allows it to attack simultaneously two targets located up to a kilometer apart. Its fire control system enables the AC-130U to destroy targets more quickly, expediting air-to-ground mission objectives while decreasing threat exposure time, which enhances aircraft survivability.

Specifications:
Role: Fixed-wing gunship
Lockheed and Boeing First flight AC-130A: 1966 AC-130U: 1990
Introduction:  AC-130A: 1968
                       AC-130U: 1995
Status: Active
Primary user: U.S. Air Force
Number built- 43, including all variants
Unit cost: AC-130H: US$132.4 million
                 AC-130U: US$190 million (2001)
Developed from: C-130 Hercules

Sensor Suite
The most significant changes in the AC-130U Gunship are enhancements and expansions to its sensor suite. Both the All Light Level Television and the Infrared Detection System can scan a full 360 degrees, allowing the gunship crew to search for and find targets much faster. The target detection and recognition ranges of both sensors are nearly double those of previous gunships. The television also incorporates a laser target designator and rangefinder that allows the AC-130U to designate targets for other aircraft armed with smart, laser-guided weapons. The gunship’s target detection capability makes it a highly effective force multiplier. The AC-130U incorporates Night Vision Imaging System, with compatible lighting throughout to support use of night vision equipment by its crew.

Fire Control System
Today’s AC-130U Gunship is more lethal than its predecessors, due to the addition of a GAU-12, 25 mm Gatling gun (similar to those on

Related Posts

  • U.S. Survival AR-7
  • Your Survival Guy's 10 Most Popular Advanced Weapons Systems of 2019
  • F-22 Raptor
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
The Editors
The Editors
The Editors
Latest posts by The Editors (see all)
  • Naturalized Criminals Set to Lose American Citizenship - July 1, 2025
  • NYC’s Mamdani: The More You Know, the Worse It Gets - June 30, 2025
  • Iran’s Invincibility Crumbles in Just Hours - June 26, 2025

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • “We’re Not Going Back”
  • Your Survival Guy Prefers Bombardier’s Global Express 7500
  • Conflict Between Democratic Sovereignty and Transnational Progressivism (Globalism)
  • Hillsdale College: What College Is Meant to Be
  • Ron Paul: “Freedom and Central Banking Are Not Compatible”
  • Warning! Your Survival Guy’s on a Boil Water Advisory
  • ACTRESS: “Liberal Politicians Are Ruining Cities”
  • Who Wants to Depopulate the Earth?
  • TOP HEAVY: Focus on Big Indexing Could Cause Market Chaos
  • “I Need Preservation of Principal and Growth”

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • Survive and Thrive June 2025: The Lay of the Land: Who Can You Trust?
  • Job Market Remains Strong
  • Chinese Goods Price Increases Outpace Core Inflation
  • From Scroll to Store: How Social Media Is Powering Retail Traffic in 2025
  • Work to Retirement #11: Whatcha Gonna Do?
  • Canada Rescinds Tech Tax, Resumes Trade Talks with U.S.
  • US Investment Gap Narrows in Q1
  • Why the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Fix America’s Broken Grid
  • Smartphone Satellite Communications Are Here
  • Income Falls as Government Cuts Welfare Spending

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • Survive and Thrive June 2025: The Lay of the Land: Who Can You Trust?
  • Dividends: “Because It Works”
  • “Surrounded by an Armed Country”
  • Every Family Should Own at Least One Shotgun: Here Are Three
  • What’s the Best Gun for Home Defense?
  • Work to Retirement #11: Whatcha Gonna Do?
  • Smartphone Satellite Communications Are Here
  • What’s Your Backup Internet Plan?
  • How Does Internet from Space Work?
  • Stein Vetoes NC’s Constitutional Carry Bill

US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

My Key West Garden Office

Your Retirement Life: Traveling the Efficient Frontier

Live a Long Life

Your Survival Guy’s Mt. Rushmore of Investing Legends

“Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”

Copyright © 2025 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives