USAF A-10s and C-130s destroy Islamic State fuel trucks

The Defense Department on Wednesday evening released video of a series of airstrikes targeting fuel trucks operated by the Islamic State group.
The Pentagon video — which refers to the Islamic State group as "Daesh," a derogatory Arabic term for the militant group — said the strikes took place Monday near Abu Kamal, Syria, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
The strikes destroyed 116 tanker trucks.
"This is our first strike against tanker trucks, and to minimize risks to civilians, we conducted a leaflet drop prior to the strike," spokeperson said.
airforcetimes

AC-130J Will Get 105 mm Cannon ASAP; Laser Later

Sometimes smart bombs aren’t the smart choice. That’s why the aging AC-130 gunship is still revered by ground troops for its ability to fire a 105mm cannon — a weapon normally mounted on light tanks. That’s why the head of Air Force Special Operations, decided the new model, the AC-130J Ghostrider, had to have the 105 instead of relying on missiles.
The U model, aka “Spooky,” is the classic gunship configuration with multiple cannon, including the 105 mm. The W model, aka “Stinger II,” was a special innovation for Afghanistan that had smart weapons — Griffin Missiles and Small Diameter Bombs — but no gun heavier than 30mm. The J-model Ghostrider was originally supposed to enter service looking a lot like the Stinger, with a 30mm gun, Griffins, and SDBs, but with enough spare power and room to maybe mount the 105 mm at some later point.
The venerable 105 gun is in some ways more precise than smart weapons, because its shells contain much less explosive than even the Small Diameter Bomb. Because those shells are smaller than missiles or bombs, an airplane can also carry a lot more of them. And they’re a lot less expensive than smart weapons.
As for the J-model, the first two aircraft will not have the 105mm gun installed. That’ll have to be retrofitted later.
The big gun isn’t the only upgrade the Ghostriders will need, however. They currently lack the full suite of defenses found on the older aircraft. They have chaff, flares, and lasers to blind heat-seeking missiles, the Large Aircraft Infra-Red Counter Measures (LAIRCM) system. What they don’t have is countermeasures against radar-guided missiles. The Air Force can’t simply pull the needed systems off retiring aircraft, either, because they’re hardwired in. AFSOC just put out a Request For Proposals for radio-frequency countermeasures for the J-model.
The two test aircraft flying now are “Block 10″ Js with seven crew and no 105 cannon. What’s required for Initial Operating Capability (IOC) will be the Block 20, with the 105 and two more crew, a sensor operator and the cannon gunner. The ultimate Ghostrider? The Block 40, of which anywhere from zero to seven would be built, would carry a directed energy weapon.
breakingdefense

Taliban claim they shot down US AC-130 warplane in eastern Afghanistan

The Afghan Taliban claimed that their forces hit an US Air Force AC-130 gunship with antiaircraft fire and forced it to land in the eastern province of Logar.
The Taliban released a video purporting to show their forces hitting what appears to be a US Air Force C-130 aircraft. The AC-130 is a heavily armed ground attack variant of the C-130 airframe.
The video "was posted on the Facebook page of Bot Shikan on April 27, 2014, and was promoted on the Twitter account of an Afghan Taliban website representative on April 29.
The video shows a group of Taliban fighters firing antiaircraft machine guns mounted on the backs of pickup trucks. The video then shows tracer rounds fired at what appears to be a C-130. Several rounds appear to hit the aircraft and bright flashes are seen underneath the plane. The video then shows what the Taliban claim is the wreckage of the aircraft as well as footage of the plane as it lands on or near an airbase in Logar province. At the end of the video, the Taliban show a helicopter and another aircraft being fired upon.
The International Security Assistance Force has not reported that any of its aircraft have been shot down or crash-landed, and would neither confirm nor deny that the aircraft shown in this video was fired upon by the Taliban.
The release of video of the C-130 coming under attack took place just one day after the Taliban claimed to have shot down a British Army helicopter in the southern province of Kandahar. ISAF confirmed that a helicopter crashed and five ISAF soldiers were killed on April 26.
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence denied that the Taliban shot down the Lynx helicopter, which is used by the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing to ferry troops such as the SAS and SBS on missions, and are also heavily armed for supporting fire. The Ministry of Defence instead claimed that the helicopter was likely brought down by a technical problem.
On at least one occasion, ISAF has denied a Taliban claim to have shot down a Coalition helicopter in Afghanistan, only to backtrack on the statement. In December 2013, the Taliban claimed to have shot down a US Army Blackhawk helicopter in the southern Afghan province of Zabul and killed six soldiers.
ISAF quickly denied the report.
longwarjournal

AC-130s starting to hunt in daylight

Better defensive equipment and long-range weapons are allowing the vulnerable AC-130 to hunt in broad daylight

alert5
dangerroom

C-130J Super Hercules Variants Declared ‘Mission Capable’

The Lockheed Martin (LMT) HC-130J Combat King II and the MC-130J Commando II aircraft have been certified as “Effective, Suitable and Mission Capable” by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center. The U.S. Air Force is currently recapitalizing the HC, MC and AC-130 gunship fleets with new C‑130J variants.

defencetalk