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Future Gunship Makes Inaugural Flight


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From the AF Assoc. daily report:The first MC-130J special-mission aircraft slated for conversion to the Air Force's new AC-130J gunship configuration made its maiden flight this week from Lockheed Martin's production facility in Marietta, Ga., announced the company. This airframe will feature the modular Precision Strike Package, a scalable weapons and sensor suite already carried on Air Force Special Operations Command's MC-130Ws. It is scheduled to fly as a gunship in early 2014, according to the company's Dec. 4 release. Lockheed Martin announced in July that it had begun assembling this airframe in Marietta. The Air Force intends to acquire 16 new-build AC-130Js under a $1.6 billion recapitalization project meant to replace its legacy AC-130Hs and provide additional gunship capacity. The AC-130J fleet is slated to commence operations in 2015. Lockheed Martin noted that the Air Force has a requirement for 37 AC-130Js.

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are two "generations" of U-models. Those that were factory built that way and those that were converted.

I thought (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the factory built were essentially H3s.

I think Nashvilles H2s 89/90 era were the only ones converted.

All the U models are highly modified H2 aircraft. The years range from 87 to 92.

Ron

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