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FB: High tech gunship. Air Force Special Operations boss wants lasers, microwave weapons and drones on the next generation AC-130.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air Force Special Operations Command is working to make<\/span>its ultimate gunship a high-tech flying machine armed with lasers and microwave weapons and equipped with small drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The technology is almost ready to be outfitted in the service’s special operations fleet. Later, with the possibility of the Air Force outfitting later <\/span>upgraded versions of the its <\/span>new AC-130J Ghostrider could be outfitted with directed energy weapons as a way <\/span>for precision targeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The service is testing its first AC-130J, and is building its next model with a new 105mm gun. The later versions, possibly in the 2020s, could remove the 105mm gun and replace it with a laser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The service is not requesting money to begin the process of adding the laser to the AC-130J, but AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold said he is hoping for more research and development funding to “flesh out the concept.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The laser would be added to a gunship already packed with plenty of <\/span>weaponry. The new version of the AC-130 will also have, in addition to the 105mm gun, a 30mm cannon, Hellfire missiles, Griffin missiles and small diameter bombs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Air Force should also research in <\/span>more science fiction-style technology for to be outfitted on <\/span>the aircraft, Heithold said Tuesday at an Air Force Association event. This includes the active denial system, a microwave weapon in testing that is designed for riot and crowd control. The weapon fires a high beam of energy to create an “intolerable heating sensation” on the skin, according to the Air Force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The weapon would be effective in controlling riots from the air and causing people to disperse, Heithold said. “To me, there’s great value in doing that,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The system being tested by the Air Force is placed on a truck and is designed for use by security forces for crowd control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AC-130J is outfitted with a common launch tube that can fire multiple munitions. In addition to weapons, however, the military should look at another use for the tube: drones, Heithold said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the aircraft’s weapons cannot identify and hit ground targets through a heavy layer of clouds. To counter this, the aircrew could launch a small drone through the tube to fly below the cloud layer and provide a video feed and coordinates to the weapons operators on the plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Air Force’s first AC-130J has been in testing for about a year. A January report to Congress from the Pentagon’s Operational Test and Evaluation Office found some issues with the aircraft that have arisen<\/span>, including delays and vibration issues with the sensor suite. As of January, the aircraft had performed 36 test flights out of approximately 130 planned for a total of 97 flight hours. Initial testing and evaluation is expected to finish in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The service will field 37 AC-130Js with the first operational version expected in two to three years. The service now flies eight AC-130Hs, 12 AC-130Ws and 17 AC-130Us. All of the aging H models will be retired, and the service will keep a floor of 26 total <\/span>W and U versions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Air Force Special Operations Command is working to make its ultimate gunship a high-tech flying machine armed with lasers and microwave weapons and equipped with small drones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":57917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[16,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1695],"class_list":["post-29297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GV755YTK5JAPNA4AUC5K6VR57M","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2015\/03\/19\/afsoc-envisions-its-gunship-armed-with-lasers-other-high-tech-weapons\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n