Wallpaper Description:

There is another pic of a AC 130 here and i like it ( http://aircraft.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/28102/ )but hate that the end of the wings missed on this pic so i searched a one with full wings ,I am dont sure if it is type H or U on this pic

In 2007, AFSOC initiated a program to upgrade the armament of existing AC-130s still in service. The test program planned for the 25 mm GAU-12/U and 40 mm Bofors cannon on the AC-130U gunships to be replaced with two 30 mm Mk 44 Bushmaster II cannons. In 2007, the Air Force modified four AC-130U gunships as test platforms for the Bushmasters. However, AFSOC canceled its plans to install the new cannons on its fleet of AC-130Us. It has since removed the guns and re-installed the original 40 mm cannons and returned the planes to combat duties. Brig. Gen. Bradley A. Heithold, AFSOC's director of plans, programs, requirements and assessments, said on 11 August 2008 that the effort was canceled due to problems with the Bushmaster's accuracy "at the altitude we were employing it" in tests. There were also schedule considerations that drove the decision, he said.

There are also plans to possibly replace the M102 howitzer with a breech-loading 120 mm mortar, and to give the AC-130 a standoff capability using either the AGM-114 Hellfire missile, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (based on the Hydra 70 rocket), or the Viper Strike glide bomb.

As a result of the demand for AC-130s, Air Force Special Operations Command will increase the gunship force by converting an unknown number of MC-130W Combat Spears. The decision to stick with the C-130s to fill the need came after funding to acquire 16 C-27s had been stripped from the fiscal 2010 budget. Specifics were not given on what weapons the new gunships would be armed with. On 19 May 2009, USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz stated that the new gunships are most likely going to feature a lighter weapons load than the AC-130H and U-models. The General stated that the new gunships will probably look a little bit more like what they were working on with the AC-27, but it will be on a C-130 platform