Vietnam War The AC-130 gunship first arrived in South Vietnam on 21 September 1967 under the Gunship II program and began combat operations over Laos and South Vietnam that same year. In June 1968, AC-130s were deployed to
Tan Son Nhut AB near Saigon for support against the
Tet Offensive. By 30 October 1968, enough AC-130 Gunship IIs arrived to form a squadron, the
16th Special Operations Squadron of the
8th Tactical Fighter Wing, at
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. At this time, the C-130A gunship was designated the AC-130A. On 18 August 1968, an AC-130 gunship flying an armed reconnaissance mission in Vietnam's III Corps was diverted to support the
Katum Special Forces Camp. The ground commander quickly assessed the accurate fire and capabilities of this weapons system and called for fire on his own perimeter when the Viet Cong attempted to bridge the wire on the west side of his position. By December 1968, most AC-130s flew under
F-4 Phantom II escort (to protect the gunship against heavy and concentrated antiaircraft fire) from the 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron, normally three Phantoms per gunship. On 24 May 1969, the first Spectre gunship was lost to enemy fire. In late 1969, under code name "Surprise Package", 56-0490 arrived with solid-state, laser-illuminated, low light-level TV with a companion YAG
laser designator, an improved forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor, video recording for TV and FLIR, an
inertial navigation system, and a prototype digital fire-control computer. The remaining AC-130s were refitted with upgraded similar equipment in the summer of 1970, and then redeployed to Ubon RTAFB. On 25 October 1971, the first "Cadillac" gunship, the AC-130E, arrived in Vietnam. On 17 February 1972, the first
105mm cannon arrived for service with Spectre and was installed on Gunship 570. It was used from mid-February until the aircraft received battle damage to its right flap. The cannon was switched to Gunship 571 and was used until 30 March when the aircraft was shot down. On 28 January 1973, the
Vietnam peace accord went into effect, marking the end of Spectre operations in Vietnam. Spectre was still needed and active in the region, supporting operations in Laos and Cambodia. On 22 February 1973, American offensive operations in Laos ended and the gunships became totally committed to operations in the Cambodian conflict. On 12 April 1975, the
Khmer Rouge was threatening the capital of
Phnom Penh and AC-130s were called on to help in
Operation Eagle Pull, the final evacuation of American and allied officials from Phnom Penh before it was conquered by the communists. The AC-130 was also over Saigon on 30 April 1975 to protect the final evacuation in
Operation Frequent Wind. Spectres were also called in when the
USS Mayaguez was seized, on the open sea, by Khmer Rouge soldiers and sailors on 15 May 1975. Six AC-130s and 52 air crew members were lost during the war. AC-130s reportedly destroyed more than 10,000 trucks and participated in many crucial close-air-support missions in Vietnam.
Cold War and later action With the conclusion of hostilities in Southeast Asia in the mid-1970s, the AC-130H became the sole gunship in the regular Air Force, home based at Hurlburt Field, Florida, while the AC-130A fleet was transferred to the Air Force Reserve's 919th Tactical Airlift Group (919 TAG) at
Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #3/
Duke Field, Florida. With the transition to the AC-130A, the 919 TAG was then redesignated as the
919th Special Operations Group. In the late 1970s, when the AC-130H fleet was first being modified for in-flight refueling capability, a demonstration mission was planned and flown from Hurlburt Field, Florida, nonstop, to conduct a 2-hour live-fire mission over Empire Firing Range in the Republic of Panama, then return home. This 13-hour mission with two in-flight refuelings from
KC-135 tankers proved the validity of flying long-range missions outside the
contiguous United States to attack targets then return to home base without intermediate stops. AC-130s from both the
4th and
16th Special Operations Squadrons have been deployed in nearly every conflict in which the United States has been involved, officially and unofficially, since the end of the Vietnam War. In July 1979, AC-130H crews deployed to
Howard Air Force Base, Panama, as a precaution against possible hostile actions against American personnel during the
Nicaraguan Revolution. New time aloft and nonstop distance records were subsequently set by a 16th SOS two-ship AC-130H formation flight that departed Hurlburt Field on 13 November 1979 and landed on 15 November at
Andersen Air Force Base,
Guam, a distance of and 29 hours 43 minutes nonstop, refueling four times in-flight. Refueling support for the Guam deployment was provided by KC-135 crews from the 305th Air Refueling Wing from
Grissom AFB, Indiana. In November 1979, four AC-130H gunships flew nonstop from Hurlburt Field to Anderson AFB, Guam, because of the
hostage situation at the US Embassy in Iran. On Guam, AC-130H crews developed communications-out/lights-out refueling procedures for later employment by trial-and-error. This deployment with the 1 SOW/CC as task force commander was directed from the office of the CJCS for fear that Iranian militants could begin executing American Embassy personnel who had been
taken hostage on 4 November. One early option considered AC-130H retaliatory punitive strikes deep within Iran. Later gunship flights exceeded the 1979 Hurlburt-to-Guam flight. Upon return in March 1980, the four planes soon found themselves in Egypt to support the
ill-fated hostage rescue attempt. during twilight operations in 1988 During
Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada in 1983, AC-130s suppressed enemy air-defense systems and attacked ground forces enabling the assault of the
Point Salines Airfield via
airdrop and air-land of friendly forces. The AC-130 aircrew earned the
Lieutenant General William H. Tunner Award for the mission. The AC-130Hs of the
16th Special Operations Squadron unit maintained an ongoing rotation to Howard AB, Panama, monitoring activities in El Salvador and other Central American points of interest, with rules of engagement eventually permitting attacks on
FMLN targets. This commitment of maintainers and crews started in 1983 and lasted until 1990. The AC-130 is considered to have hastened the end of the
Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s. Crews flew undercover missions from Honduras and attacked guerrilla camps and concentrations. AC-130s also had a primary role during the
United States invasion of Panama (named Operation Just Cause) in 1989, when they destroyed
Panama Defense Force headquarters and numerous command-and-control facilities, and provided close air support for US ground troops. Aircrews earned the
Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year, and the Tunner Award.
Gulf War and the 1990s During the
Gulf War of 1990–1991 (Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm), Regular Air Force and Air Force Reserve AC-130s provided close air support and force protection (air base defense) for ground forces, and battlefield interdiction. The primary interdiction targets were early-warning/
ground-control intercept sites along the southern border of
Iraq. At its standard altitude of , the aircraft had a proven ability to engage moving ground targets. The first gunship to enter the
Battle of Khafji helped stop a southbound Iraqi armored column on 29 January 1991. One day later, three more gunships provided further aid to
Marines participating in the operation. The gunships attacked Iraqi positions and columns moving south to reinforce their positions north of the city. Despite the threat of SAMs and increasing visibility during the early morning hours of 31 January 1991, one AC-130H, AF Serial No. 69-6567, call-sign Spirit 03, opted to stay to continue to protect the Marines. A lone Iraqi with a
Strela-2 MANPADS shot Spirit 03 down, and all 14 crew members were killed. The loss of Spirit 03 did however result in the US DoD joining the development of the AN/AAQ-24 Directed Infrared Countermeasures System which, in its updated laser-based form, is now a common fit across large US military aircraft. The military has used AC-130 gunships during the humanitarian operations in
Somalia (
Operation Restore Hope and
Operation United Shield) in 1992–93 and
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. AC-130s took part in the
NATO missions in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Kosovo during the 1990s. 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 to
Taegu Air Base (Daegu), South Korea, being refueled seven times in the air by KC-135 tankers. The two gunships took on 410,000 lb (186,000 kg) of fuel. Gunships also were part of the buildup of US forces in 1998 to compel Iraq to allow
UNSCOM weapons inspections.
War on Terror The US has used gunships with deployments to the
War in Afghanistan (
Operation Enduring Freedom,
Operation Freedom's Sentinel, 2001–21), and
Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003–11). AC-130 strikes were directed by special forces on known Taliban locations during the early days of the war in Afghanistan. US Special Operations Forces used the AC-130 to support its operations. The day after arriving in Afghanistan, the AC-130s attacked Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces near the city of Kunduz 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-Jangi. The 16 SOS flew missions over Mazar-i-Sharif,
Kunduz, 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 planes fired more than 1,300x 40mm and 1,200x 105mm 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 fulfill one or more air-support requests (ASRs). A typical mission had the AC–130 supporting a single brigade's ASRs followed by aerial refueling and another two 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, US Special Operations forces also used the AC-130 in attacks on suspected
Al-Qaeda militants in Somalia. Eight AC-130H and 17 AC-130U aircraft were in active-duty service as of July 2010. which eventually came under NATO as
Operation Unified Protector. By September 2013, 14 MC-130W Dragon Spear aircraft have been converted to AC-130W Stinger II gunships. The Stinger gunships have been deployed to Afghanistan to replace the aging AC-130H aircraft and provide an example for the new AC-130J Ghostrider. Modifications began by cutting holes in the plane to make room for weapons and adding kits and bomb bases for laser-guided munitions. Crews added a 105 mm cannon, 20-inch infrared and electro-optical sensors, and the ability to carry 250-lb bombs on the wings. The final AC-130H Spectre gunship, tail number 69-6569 "Excalibur" was retired on 26 May 2015 at
Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. On 3 October 2015, an AC-130 mistakenly
attacked the
Doctors Without Borders hospital in
Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 42 people and injuring over 30. In five separate runs, the gunship struck the hospital, which had been erroneously identified as the source of attacks on coalition members. Subsequent inquiries led to punishment of 16 military personnel and cited "human error" as the root cause. On 30 September 2017, the Air Force declared the AC-130J Ghostrider had achieved initial operational capability, with six gunships having been delivered; the aircraft is planned to reach full operational capability by 2023 with 37 gunships delivered. The J-variant is lighter and more fuel efficient than previous versions, able to fly at with a range of and service ceiling of . the final AC-130U was retired in June 2020. AFSOC started taking delivery of the AC-130J in spring 2019, and the aircraft began deploying to Afghanistan by the summer. On 21 November 2023, the Air Force released a statement that an AC-130J had performed a retaliatory strike on Iranian-backed militia group in central Iraq. The strike happened near
Al-Asad Airbase after the militia members reportedly launched a ballistic missile against Al-Asad airbase. The Deputy Press Secretary of
The Pentagon,
Sabrina Singh stated "This self-defense strike resulted in some hostile fatalities." Notably the AC-130J's transponder remained on during the strike, and the remainder of its sortie. ==Variants==