Latest news with #AC-130J
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile-Armed AC-130J Gunships Could Be On The Horizon
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways U.S. Special Operations Command has test-loaded an AGM-84 Harpoon missile onto an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. The addition of the Harpoon to the AC-130J's arsenal would give the gunship an all-new dedicated standoff anti-ship capability, which could be particularly relevant in a future large-scale conflict in the Pacific. Harpoon would also pair well with separate plans to expand the long-range targeting capabilities of the Ghostrider with the help of a new active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar. Maj. Andrew Monroe, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command's (SOCOM) Detachment 1, mentioned the Harpoon load test during a talk at the annual SOF Week conference earlier today, at which TWZ was in attendance. Based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Detachment 1 is primarily responsible for developmental testing related to the AC-130J, as well as the MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker/transport and OA-1K Skyraider II special operational light attack aircraft. The unit also supports integration work for special operations aircraft, broadly, as well as special operations aviation capability demonstrations. An AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. USAF Senior Airman Ty Pilgrim 'Over the last year, our team executed Precision Strike Package testing, Harpoon loading, and Small Cruise Missile integration and launch efforts off the AC 130J,' Maj. Monroe said. Precision Strike Package (PSP) is the official term for the AC-130J's armament package, as well as the associated sensors and fire control systems. Small Cruise Missile (SCM), which features a 400-mile range, is another current effort to add a new standoff strike capability to the Ghostrider, which you can read more about here. This appears to be the first time the possibility of adding Harpoon to the arsenal of an AC-130 gunship has emerged. TWZ has reached out to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), which operates all 31 Ghostriders currently in service, for more information. A Marine F/A-18C Hornet fighter armed with a live AGM-84 Harpoon during an exercise. USMC Each AC-130J is currently armed with a 30mm automatic cannon and a 105mm howitzer, both mounted in the main cargo hold and firing out of the left side of the fuselage. The gunships can also employ various precision-guided bombs and missiles via Common Launch Tubes (CLT) and underwing racks. This includes variants of the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), a 250-pound-class glide bomb offering standoff range. The Ghostrider has a demonstrated capability to engage maritime targets with its existing array of weapons, but it does not currently have the ability to employ a dedicated standoff anti-ship munition like Harpoon. The potential for Harpoon-armed AC-130Js comes amid growing questions about the Ghostrider's relevance in future high-end conflicts, especially a potential major fight with China across the broad expanses of the Pacific. The gunships are among a number of special operations aircraft facing these questions amid an ongoing U.S. military-wide shift away from primarily focusing on counter-terrorism and other lower-intensity missions. Even while supporting operations in largely permissive airspace over countries like Iraq and Afghanistan in the past two decades, AC-130s have operated almost exclusively under the cover of darkness to reduce vulnerability to ground fire. The TWZ video below provides an overview of the evolution of the AC-130 gunship and its armament, as well as how the AC-130J variant is now evolving to meet new operational demands. As TWZ wrote after the release of a video last year showing a Ghostrider pummelling the former Austin class amphibious warfare ship ex-USS Dubuque with its guns during the biennial Rim Of The Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise: 'The video from the RIMPAC 2024 SINKEX [sinking exercise] highlights how the Ghostriders, and their guns specifically, could be utilized against larger ships and in instances where the objective might not be to sink the vessel, such as during special operations boarding operations. The aircraft's 30mm cannon, in particular, could be used to engage personnel on a ship's deck.' 'However, during a future major conflict, just getting within gun range of a higher-value target like an amphibious warfare ship, likely operating as part of a larger group of warships further supported by air and other assets, would be a very tall order, if not impossible, for Air Force AC-130s. Ghostriders might still be able to leverage their guns against vessels in lower-risk areas or to help finish off severely damaged vessels separated from their companions. Armed overwatch over and around friendly forces on islands and anchorages could be another future maritime mission in a higher-end fight.' A standoff anti-ship missile like AGM-84 would change the dynamic considerably for an AC-130J. Even just in the aforementioned force protection scenario around island outposts and ports, Harpoons would give Ghostriders a valuable new way to engage maritime threats at extended distances. AGM-84 also has the benefit of being a weapon that is already in U.S. service. The Harpoon family is also still in production and upgraded versions continue to be developed. Current generation Block II Harpoons have a maximum range 'in excess' of 77 miles (67 nautical miles), according to Boeing, which manufactures the missiles. The company also offers an extended range version with greater reach, thanks in part to a lighter, but also reportedly more advanced warhead. Interest within the U.S. Air Force, as well as the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, in expanding overall capacity to launch aerial anti-ship strikes has grown, in general, as focus has shifted to the Pacific region. A growing list of U.S. military aircraft are also in line to be armed with AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) in the coming years. AFSOC MC-130Js are also among transport aircraft that have been tested as potential launch platforms for cruise missiles, including the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) from which the LRASM is derived, using a palletized munitions system called Rapid Dragon. It is worth pointing out here that Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the C-130J and did the AC-130J conversions, has pitched Harpoon as an armament option for a maritime patrol variant of the aircraft in the past. Sometimes referred to as the SC-130J, this proposed version has also been depicted armed with AGM-84H/K Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) derivatives of the Harpoon. Integrating anti-ship Harpoons onto the AC-130J might also be a path to adding SLAM-ERs to the gunship's arsenal. A rendering of Lockheed Martin's proposed SC-130J maritime patrol version of the aircraft with a pair of AGM-84 Harpoons seen under its right wing. The aircraft is also depicted here releasing an anti-submarine torpedo from a weapons bay inside an elongated landing gear sponson, another feature of the SC-130J concept. Lockheed Martin Another rendering of the SC-130J concept with a pair of AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER missiles under each wing. Lockheed Martin There are questions about how an AC-130J armed with Harpoons would be able to find targets at sea and cue the missiles to them. This is where separate plans to add a new AESA radar to the Ghostrider could come in. This is something SOCOM has been actively working toward since at least 2023. 'We're looking to include or to deliver enhanced precision effects' on the AC-130J, 'which includes AESA radar integration,' Lt. Col. Shawna Matthys, Division Chief for Integrated Strike Programs within SOCOM's Program Executive Office-Fixed Wing (PEO-FW), also told TWZ and other attendees at SOF Week today. 'This will allow us to see further [and offer] more accurate target tracking.' Matthys also noted that radar might help with 'operating in contested environments.' TWZ has highlighted in the past how an AESA radar would give the AC-130J improved threat warning and general situational awareness, and could offer new electronic warfare capabilities. When the Ghostrider fleet might begin receiving new radars remains to be seen. USAF 'We're doing some pathfinding with an APG-83, which is a very common solution in the Air Force,' Col. T. Justin Bronder, head of PEO-FW, also said today at the SOF Week conference. 'We certainly look to leverage [non-special operations] service infrastructure where we can, because that gives us good economies of scale.' The Air Force is currently in the process of integrating Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83, also known as Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), onto a significant number of its F-16C/D Viper fighters. In addition to its aerial surveillance capabilities, the AN/APG-83 has a synthetic aperture mapping mode, also referred to as SAR mapping, which allows it to produce high-resolution images. That imagery, in turn, can be used for target acquisition and identification purposes, as well as general reconnaissance. An AC-130J could use that capability to help find and target enemy ships with Harpoons, as well as SDBs. You can read more about the SABR in this past TWZ feature. The plan right now is to 'leverage the existing technology and then tailor that to the AC-130J,' Lt. Col. Matthys added following Col. Bronder's comments about current work with the AN/APG-83. Much remains to be learned about the extent of plans to arm the AC-130J with Harpoon. Still, a dedicated anti-ship weapon would give the gunships an important capability boost, especially with an eye toward future fights in the Pacific, even if they were to still operate in lower-threat portions of the battlespace. Contact the author: joe@
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
AC-130J Ghostrider Gunship Launches Black Arrow Small Cruise Missile In New Video
The Black Arrow, also known as the Small Cruise Missile, has completed a guided flight test from an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship, the weapon's manufacturer, Leidos, has confirmed. The Black Arrow, which is intended to carry a range of different payloads, and not just a kinetic warhead, arrives at a time when the Pentagon is looking at harnessing the potential of lower-cost weapons that can be readily produced at scale to meet the likely demands of future conflicts. Leidos only recently announced the flight test although it occurred last November. The company also published a video of the test, showing Black Arrow being launched from a pair of Ramp Launch Tubes (RLT) mounted on the rear ramp of the AC-130J. The Black Arrow is released tail-first from the RLT, after which its single-piece pop-out wing deploys. The motor can then be seen starting. The weapon's subsequent impact into the ground is not shown in the video. As well as using the RLT, Leidos says that Black Arrow can be launched from a palletized system or conventionally released from a stores pylon on a fixed-wing aircraft. 'The test demonstrated aircraft compatibility, system performance, waypoint uplinks, guidance accuracy as well as integration with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Battle Management System (BMS),' the company said in a media release. The test was conducted as part of a Collaborative Research and Development (CRADA) agreement between Leidos, the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). Weighing around 200 pounds, the Black Arrow is intended to be a low-cost 'mission-adaptable delivery platform,' rather than a traditional munition. This means it can be configured for both kinetic and non-kinetic missions. At the same time, it's designed to facilitate spiral upgrades. The CRADA program for the SCM, now known as Black Arrow, began in 2022, since when the interest in so-called affordable mass has only grown. Leidos says it has used model-based system engineering practices as well as open system architecture to ensure that Black Arrow is affordable and can be built rapidly at scale, if required. 'SCM is a key capability, rapidly advancing AFSOC's ability to close long-range kill chains,' Col. Justin Bronder, SOCOM PEO Fixed Wing, said at the Special Air Warfare Symposium held at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, last month. Previously, we had gotten our first glimpse of what was then only known as the Small Cruise Missile when SOCOM included a picture of it in a briefing at the annual SOF Week conference in May of last year. At the time, SOCOM said the SCM was one of its top priorities and could be launched from the MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker/transport aircraft, as well as the AC-130J, and potentially other platforms. Adding standoff strike capabilities to aircraft like these is seen as a critical way to ensure their continued relevance, especially in future high-end conflicts, including a potential one in the Pacific against China. For the AC-130J, in particular, being able to address targets relatively quickly far from the current station it is on would allow it to support strikes across a much larger geographical area. Right now the aircraft can drop Small Diameter Bombs, at a range of dozens of miles. That would be enhanced massively with a small cruise missile. A missile with a 200 mile range would allow the AC-130 to strike targets anywhere within a 125,664 square mile circle around it. An SDB, with say a range of say 30 miles when dropped from the AC-130's launch altitude and speed, allows the aircraft to strike anywhere within a 2,827 square mile circle. So we are talking about a massive difference here in capability Then there is using the aircraft as a standoff weapons delivery platform in a high-end fight where it's direct fire capabilities will be of less value due to the range of modern enemy air defenses. You can learn all about the future of AC-130 in our video below: Before that, in 2021, SOCOM issued a contracting notice regarding a Stand-Off Precision Guided Weapon Program Cruise Missile outlining interest in a weapon of this type. The specifications included a range of between 200 and 400 nautical miles (around 230 and 460 miles) while the weapon was required to fit inside a standardized cylindrical Common Launch Tube (CLT). The size and weight of the SCM/Black Arrow rules out its carriage in a CLT, which can accommodate payloads up to 42 inches in length and 5.95 inches in diameter, and has a 100-pound weight limit, according to SOCOM. The Stand-Off Precision Guided Weapon Program Cruise Missile notice also outlined a requirement for an electro-optical/infrared seeker, with plans to incorporate a multi-mode seeker package 'able to acquire and/or reacquire targets in flight.' Other key attributes specified in the notice were a long-range, datalink connection to Situational Awareness Data Link (SADL) (threshold) and SADL/Link-16 (objective), resilient GPS/INS to work in a denied GPS environment, 'a sensor capable of identifying targets once over the target area, and a payload to effect the target,' the notice added. Leidos says it's under contract with SOCOM to continue Black Arrow test and evaluation activities throughout 2025. At this stage, however, it's unclear what additional platforms it might be tested on, or what kinds of payloads might be involved. The size and weight of Black Arrow would render it suitable for carriage by a wide range of platforms, including drones. Black Arrow also arrives at a time when the U.S. military, more generally, is looking at low-cost air vehicles that could be turned into cruise missiles, as well as electronic attackers. Central to these concerns is the ability to expand the available industrial base to help stock up on more affordable weapons ahead of a future high-end conflict, such as one against China, and sustaining those inventories in a protracted fight. The Air Force is now running the Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) program, with a view to addressing some of these supply chain issues, and particularly as a stepping stone to a new lower-cost cruise missile. Leidos subsidiary Dynetics — alongside Anduril Industries, Integrated Solutions for Systems, Inc., and Zone 5 Technologies — was selected in July of last year to design, build, and flight test an ETV concept. Interestingly, the Dynetics offering for the Air Force's ETV program looks to be very similar to the SCM/Black Arrow. With testing of the SCM/Black Arrow continuing under SOCOM contract, and with the same design apparently also being offered for the Air Force's ETV initiative, it will certainly be interesting to see what's next in store for the Leidos product. Contact the author: thomas@
