AC-130 Spectre Gunship -- Bring the Rain
My buddies over at Ranger Up have created a new t-shirt in their “Street Gear” lineup to honor the AC-130 Spectre Gunship.
If you’re not familiar with the AC-130 Spectre Gunship, it’s an exceptionally heavily armed aircraft used for close air support, air interdiction, and force protection.
Missions in close air support are troops in contact, convoy escort and urban operations. Air interdiction missions are conducted against preplanned targets or targets of opportunity. Force protection missions include air base defense and facilities defense.
The AC-130 is remarkably suited to these missions.
I like how the guys at Ranger Up describe the possible inspiration for this flying warship:
You could go to the Lockheed Martin official website, the DOD website, or even Wikipedia to find the official origins of the AC-130 Gunship, but we think it went something like this in 1967:
Drunk engineer 1: So…dude…let’s take a cargo plane and trick it out with every weapon we can find!
Drunk engineer 2: I don’t know man…a cargo plane?
Drunk engineer 1: Come on!
Drunk engineer 2: Well…can we add a 25mm gatling gun and a 40mm cannon?
Drunk engineer 1: Shit yeah, man! We can even add a 105mm Howitzer cannon!
Drunk enginner 2: Really? Well in that case – I’m in!
In all seriousness, the AC-130 has saved more than its fair share of ground pounder’s lives, and this shirt is a shout out both to those of you that have seen it’s handywork from the ground and those kickass pilots and aircrewmen that make it’s existence possible.
AC-130 bringing the rain
Hell yeah.
If you’re an infantry soldier pinned down by some hostiles…nothing will bring greater joy to your life than to see an AC-130 arrive to provide support.
When the AC-130 unleashes it’s weapons systems, it’s often referred to as “rain”. As in “making it rain”, or “bringing the rain”. Because the surgical saturation looks like…well, rain.
Think I’ll go ahead and make my pre-order today. Kind of a an after-Christmas present to myself.
The legend of the “Spooky” lives on, bigger and badder than it’s predecessor.
In my day, it was called “puff the magic dragon” cuz one puff and your problems went away
Peace….
through strength
Piper
in 68 they were called spectre and had 20 mm guns and 7.62 hade many beer bought when the ground pounders what you did ubon rulled
In the pic of the AC-130’s ‘brining the rain’, I thought those were just counter measures, not weaons fire. I’m I wrong about this?
Just checking. Cool site, and hang tight there in Austin.
you’re right buddy, just popping some flares. I love the “Angel of Death”
you’re right buddy, just popping some flares. I love the “Angel of Death”
obummer,
The top photo that says “bringing the rain” is actually doing so.
The bottom photo is of counter-measures, and some times the effect is referred to as “angels.”
in Iraq we were totally out gunned one day and just laying low and running out of rounds fast. We had no where to go and all would have been dead in a hour of so and then we heard the roar of 3 AC-130’s bringing the rain and it was one huge downpour. those planes were right on time and just missed taking us out with everyone else.
Fuck man I LOVE AC130’s…
Their Kickass their Big and Pack a punch… love the 105 sabot rounds
If I was to choose any air support it would be this MotherFucker…
This plane is sick