U.S. strike targets al-Qaida in Somalia

[thefed]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070109/ap_on_re_af/us_somalia

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Those 'Puff The Magic Dragons' are awesome. A terror weapon from hell.

 

[dumpster56]

Those 'Puff The Magic Dragons' are awesome. A terror weapon from hell.

Still cannot kill alzwahiri and bin laden though.

 

[DRiP Guy]

Those 'Puff The Magic Dragons' are awesome. A terror weapon from hell.

I had an old book that discussed the development path of that system, but I lost it. As I recall it (and I could be wrong, or they could have been wrong) like most good weapons, it was pooh-poohed, the brass didn't want it or understand the concept, people said it wouldn't work, blah blah, until some ground pounders getting their butts handed to 'em just said, hey we got a big gun, we got a big empty cargo plane (C47 first proto?), let's put your chocolate in my peanut butter and see what happens. Good things happened: superior close combat air support platform, rapid rate of fire, deadly, accurate enough not to hit the friendlies.

 

[samclem]

Still cannot kill alzwahiri and bin laden though.

Oh, it can kill them, alright.

If this operation did kill some of the folks responsible for the bombings of the African Embassies, that's a good thing.. Hundreds of innocent Africans died in those attacks, these were very bad actors that were surely willing to do the same again. Good riddance.

The CBS report online yesterday indicated the AC-130 can fire "thousands of rounds per second," which is an overstatement by approx 10x. I wonder who checks their stuff.

 

[Eagle43]

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=71

This is an awesome weapon and it darn sure can kill Osama and his entire tribe. When intelligence matches the quality of this weapon, Osama will be in several pieces, pushing up daisies. One of its missions is urban operations. Do we use this in Baghdad? If not, why not?

 

[justin]

I found this nice video of the AC-130 in action taking out terrorists.

http://factsofisrael.com/blog/archives/000560.html

CAUTION - don't watch if you don't like seeing real terrorists getting shot and blown up through an infrared/nightvision scope.

 

[DRiP Guy]

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=71

This is an awesome weapon and it darn sure can kill Osama and his entire tribe. When intelligence matches the quality of this weapon, Osama will be in several pieces, pushing up daisies. One of its missions is urban operations. Do we use this in Baghdad? If not, why not?

Thanks! That led me to Wikipedia where the following info (and more) is contained. Reading this reminds me that the book I read long ago was a first person pilot's account about the aircraft, and he decribed the whole plane skating sidewise through the air, requiring course correction due to the recoil, when the guns were being fired.

The AC-47 was a United States Air Force C-47 Skytrain that had been modified by mounting three 7.62 mm General Electric miniguns to fire through two rear window openings and the side cargo door, all on the left (pilot's) side of the aircraft. The guns were actuated by a control on the pilot's yoke, where he could control the guns either individually or together. Its primary function was for close air support for ground troops, both U.S. and South Vietnamese. Once called into action, it could loiter, orbiting the designated target, sometimes for hours, providing suppressing fire. A three-second burst from all guns, according to Air Force reports, would put one round in every square foot of a football field sized target. As it carried over 24,000 rounds of ammunition, it was highly unpopular with those on the receiving end of its fire and extremely popular with the troops it flew in support of, who gave it the nickname of Puff the Magic Dragon.

When the AC-47 was introduced, there was no idea as to how successful the idea would be, and so when requests for additional gunships began to come in, the USAF found itself in a precarious situation. It simply did not have enough miniguns initially to fit anymore aircraft after the first two conversions.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Good video. It seemd that they were pulling their punches, though.

The links I was just looking at did not show anything about Vulcan machineguns. As I recall, there were more than one of these 20 mm 6000+ rounds per minute monsters on board.

Definitely one of the baddest sonofabitches in the valley.

 

[Nords]

The CBS report online yesterday indicated the AC-130 can fire "thousands of rounds per second," which is an overstatement by approx 10x. I wonder who checks their stuff.

They must've been on "Jane's Fighting Ships" reading about Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems.

Reading this reminds me that the book I read long ago was a first person pilot's account about the aircraft, and he decribed the whole plane skating sidewise through the air, requiring course correction due to the recoil, when the guns were being fired.

Odd... I knew about the battleships blowing themselves 400 yards off-track when they fired their guns, but I never thought about what it'd do to an aircraft.

I don't think that putting a round in every square foot of a soccer field counts as "urban warfare qualified". There just aren't that many warriors in the urban, and it'll kill more victims than warriors.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I think of it foremost as a terror weapon, Nords, and it's a great one.

Do they hit the right people? Dunno. How good is the intel?

Do they scare the piss out of locals? Guar-on-teed. Every time.

Is it used wisely? I sure would like to know that answer. They didn't hit the mosque in the video. Who else takes such pains?

Ed

 

[Nords]

Do they hit the right people? Dunno. How good is the intel?

Yeah, we'll have to ask Colin Powell for his feedback...

 

[lets-retire]

While in the AF I had to be familiar with the capabilities of the AC-130. I think is was more for confidence than anything else, similar to wearing you gas mask in a gas chamber is for confidence.

On one particular incursion in Latin America in the 80's, I don't remember which one, the Spectre was used. During a training class we watched the video of it's use shot from the Spectre. It was used in an urban area in very close support of our troops. From all accounts it destroyed opposing forces with little collateral damage. Just knowing that thing is loitering in the area, gives the same comfort as hearing the M-60 actually shooting instead of jamming.