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AFSOC fills gunship gap with C-130s

Air Force Special Operations Command will stick with the C-130 to fill its gunship gap after its plan to acquire and convert light cargo planes fell apart in the sweeping budget changes announced last month.

AFSOC flies two dozen AC-130 gunships and will grow the force by converting an unknown number of MC-130W Combat Spears, a night-flying Special Operations Command support plane outfitted with aerial refueling tanks.

The MC-130W was instituted in 2006 to replace combat losses of the MC-130E/H Combat Talon, which was used mainly for snake-eater air drops.

AC-130s are in high demand in Iraq and Afghanistan, and finding more gunship capability is a top priority for Special Operations Command, Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale told reporters May 7.

AFSOC had all but sealed a deal to acquire 16 C-27s as part of the Joint Cargo Aircraft program until Army funding for the program was stripped from the fiscal 2010 budget.

But the MC-130W has important advantages over the JCA, according to Vice Adm. Steve Stanley, director for force structure, resources and assessment.

“They’re aircraft that exist,” Stanley said at the same budget briefing. “They’re already plumbed for the refueling capability, which will provide them the time on station that, in this case, SOCOM requires.”

According to data from the Air Force, AFSOC plans to acquire 12 of the non-gunship MC-130Ws.

AFSOC has confirmed the gunship plan but did not give specifics as to what the weapon configuration would be on the Combat Spear or the number of gunships AFSOC will convert.