What Aircraft Would You Replace AC-130 with and What Armourment Should It Have
For fun I'd love to hear what you think should succeed the AC-130 and what would you add or leave? Let me start by deciding which aircraft that I would choose as a successor to the AC-130, and that would be the C-17. First I would use the C-17 because it has almost the identical amount of flying time before refueling as the AC-130. Second the C-17 can fly almost twice as fast as the AC-130. My final reason for choosing the C-17 is it's massive payload of 302,500 lbs ( empty it weighs 282,500 lbs and max take off weight of 585,000 lbs ) which lets it have more armourment, ammo, and more surveillance and targeting equipment. Now that I have the aircraft I think should replace the AC-130 what should it be armed with? First I'd replace the 20mm Gatling guns with the a-10's 30mm gau-8 Gatling gun (probably 2 of them). Then if possible ( should be able to fit when unneeded parts removed) replace the 105mm howitzer with a 155mm howitzer but if it can't be done then have two 105 mm. Finally add two 40 mm bofors, also I'd add hard points under the wings to hold hellfire missles. What do you think and what plane and armourment would you use in what aircraft you think should replace the AC-130. -Lets