The fourth-generation Lockheed Martin AC-130 gunship of the US Air Force, called the “Ghostrider”, is finally set to test-fire a high-energy laser in flight, seven years after the idea was first floated. Sakshi Tiwari reports on Eurasian Times.
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) will test an airborne laser on an AC-130J gunship a year later than initially anticipated, Eurasian Times reports. Hei of the ‘Spooky’ aircraft of the Vietnam war, the AC-130J is a highly modified C-130J aircraft with an advanced two-pilot flight station and fully integrated digital avionics.
The AFSOC spokesperson Lt. Col. Becky Heyse, announced a flying demonstration of Lockheed Martin’s Airborne High Energy Laser (AHEL), which will be integrated on an AC-130J Ghostrider, would begin in summer 2023 and last through the fall, Eurasian Times reports. “Results of the testing will determine future operational usage,” she said, adding that “at this time, there is no concept of operation/employment developed for the [high energy laser]”.
The announcement comes a year after defense giant Lockheed Martin delivered the 60-watt laser to AFSOC in October 2021, after finishing the factory acceptance testing. The AFSOC has since worked on integrating it with other systems, ground testing, and readying it for flight testing on the newest Ghostrider gunship. The Ghostrider is already well-armed with 30mm and 105mm cannons, AGM-176A Griffin missiles, and the capacity to transport Hellfire missiles and GBU-39 small-diameter bombs. However, the Air Force has been working to equip the gunship with a laser for years.