{"id":20640,"date":"2018-01-26T21:34:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T21:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/26\/the-air-forces-newest-gunship-is-having-problems-with-its-big-guns\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:35:20","slug":"the-air-forces-newest-gunship-is-having-problems-with-its-big-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/01\/26\/the-air-forces-newest-gunship-is-having-problems-with-its-big-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force responds to reports that its newest gunship is having problems with its big guns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/b> This story has been updated to reflect responses provided to Air Force Times by Air Force Special Operations Command.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 30mm cannon on the Air Force\u2019s next gunship<\/a> is having multiple problems, limiting its ability to track targets and maintain a full and consistent rate of fire, according to a new Pentagon report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Air Force Special Operations Command<\/a> said the issues highlighted by Pentagon investigators are either being addressed or aren\u2019t a major problem, and that the AC-130J Ghostrider<\/a> is on the right track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis aircraft has already performed well beyond expectations,\u201d AFSOC spokesman Lt. Col. Pete Hughes said in an email Feb. 1. \u201cNone of the observations noted are show stoppers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Force leadership has championed the Ghostrider as \u201cthe ultimate battle plane,\u201d and \u201ca bomb truck with guns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its two cannons, a slate of precision-guided munitions \u2014 which could include the Hellfire missile in the future \u2014 and ambitions to eventually add small drones and even a laser weapon, the Ghostrider is planned to be the most heavily armed gunship in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ghostrider\u2019s 30mm cannon fires up to 200 Coca-Cola bottle-size rounds per minute \u2014 but it recoils so heavily it causes a \u201cretrigger,\u201d forcing the gun to automatically stop firing while it re-centers itself. The operator then has to release and re-pull the trigger to start shooting again, according to the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation in its fiscal 2017 report, released in January.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retrigger happens when the 30mm\u2019s recoil kicks it beyond a preset angular limit, known as a \u201ctracking inhibit.\u201d That shuts off the gun and starts the re-centering process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a problem on the legacy AC-130W Stinger II variant, testers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hughes said AFSOC is \u201cwork[ing] out the kinks\u201d of the 30mm. It\u2019s essentially the same gun as on the AC-130W, he said, with equivalent accuracy requirements. As a result, AFSOC made some assumptions for the Ghostrider\u2019s software development based on its experience with the 130W, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after firing the AC-130J, Hughes said, \u201cthose assumptions proved to not be entirely transferable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe aircraft itself flexes differently, and the mount on the gun [is] slightly different,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cWe continue to improve the operation of the gun as we work out the kinks of [the] new weapon system. Initial findings of both software and hardware gun mount upgrades are showing positive results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFSOC continues to test the gun and gather data to create another software upgrade \u2014 slated for January 2019 \u2014 it believes will solve the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 30mm, which is a pallet-mounted, side-firing chain gun, is also having calibration problems. Its gun fire control system should compensate for altitude, slant range and ambient wind changes after it is calibrated, to make sure the first rounds fired are accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not happening, testers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOperators are unable to independently update the [fire control system\u2019s] wind calibration factor without changing the inherent gun-mount calibration factor,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That also isn\u2019t a problem with the AC-130W, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hughes said that all gunships have to adjust their guns\u2019 calibration settings when changing altitudes, to factor in normal changes in environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFSOC\u2019s testing of the Ghostrider showed it needed to be able to update the wind factor independent of the mount factor. This was included in the latest software upgrade, Hughes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t