Wingspan:

132 feet, 7 inches.

Length:

97 feet, 9 inches.

Height:

38 feet, 1 inch.

Weight:

155,00 lbs maximum; (EWO or emergency war order operations) is 175,00 lbs.

Speed:

345 mph.

Ceiling:

42,00 feet

Range:

5,300mile (transit)

Power:

Four Allison T56-A-15 Turbofan engines

Crew:

4

Service:

Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard

*The C-130 is the workhorse of air transport for dozens of countries and many private companies. The C-130 has seen action in Vietnam, Grenada, and Panama and is essential to resupply operations to the front lines. There are several versions of this aircraft from a special operations plane to a Coast Guard long-range rescue plane. An attack version of this aircraft, the AC-130 is heavily armed with several machine guns designed to destroy an enemy held area.

Iraqi Counterpart--

Iraq has several transport aircraft, but none with very long range capability. The AN-12 "Cub" is probably the closest to the C-130, but Iraq has only a dozen or so of this aircraft. Iraq also has several older transport planes, such as the AN-24 and the IL-14.

Actions in Desert Storm--

C-130's were used for several missions in Desert Storm. Using highways as landing strips, the C-130's transported material to the front line troops just prior to the ground invasion. They were also used for refueling operations, including missions that took it over hostile territory. Transport and refueling were two of the main missions during Operation Desert Storm.

Some of the special tasks performed by the C-130 included special operations. One AC-130 gunship assigned to the Special Forces was lost with its crew of 14 reported missing. The plane was later found with the crew dead. Other C-130's were used to drop 15,00 pound bombs over enemy territory. Because of the tremendous size and weight of these weapons, the C-130 was used instead of a conventional bomber.

Hey! Check this out. I got a great update on some stuff from one of our faithful readers.

An AC-130H (the type that was shot down) is armed only with two machine guns, both 20MM M61's. Its other armament is a 40MM Bofors cannon, and a 105MM howitzer, neither of which could be described as machine guns. FYI the callsign of the AC-130 was "Spirit 03." The squadrons from the 1SOW that deployed were: 8SOS - MC-130E Talon I 9SOS - HC-130 Combat Shadow 15SOS - AC-130H Gunship 20SOS - MH-53J Pave Low 55SOS - MH-60 Nite Hawk Hope this helps. For a more detailed discussion on the deployment and actions of the 1 SOW, and all other Special Operations forces, refer to the book "The Commandos" by Douglas Waller and published by Simon and Schuster. It just came out in paperback!!

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