Pick one runway in zero, four, then three, one zero, One one got one five Super Takeoff right behind me is the most heavily armed gunship in history. The Ac-130j Ghost Rider This is the U.S Air Force's ultimate battle plane designed specifically to provide close air support to troops on. wait. That's one thing. Okay I'm out here at Cannon Air Force base New Mexico To teach you about the mission, the crew and what it's like to experience firing the weapons myself so that we can see what this gunship is truly capable of. Guys, get ready because this is the AC-130 Foreign System Officer on Ac-130ja Ghost Rider Our mission set is to provide close air support to special operational forces as well as other Precision strike capabilities to the battlefield. We fly at the crew of eight to nine crew members, two pilots, two combat systems officers, and three to four aerial Gunners to operate the guns and who do all the loading. We're excited to take Sam off and get some Hands-On training and see what he can do and see Hacker! he can be shooting the guns and actually loading the guns. Wait, wait a minute. So this is the Ghost Rider huh? Yeah, it's essentially a bomb truck with guns. You know a few videos back I Got to fly on the normal variant of the C-130 and that thing was incredible. But I mean this is the Jf-130j Uh gunship. the most heavily armed aircraft in the world. To the rear of the aircraft we have a 105 millimeter Howitzer Uh which is the Gow XX which is the newest version of the 105.. Wait a minute for the aircraft. We have a 30 millimeter gal a 23 which is a chain link gun and then we have the capabilities to carry on the wings small diameter bombs as well as Hellfire missiles. and in the tail of the aircraft we can actually carry Uh Griffin missiles. Now when you step inside the cargo bay, the level of Firepower on display is really tough and God the ones that are on the wing is that like the X2c, the first thing you'll notice is the 30 millimeter gun which is capable of firing up to two. That's the ones per minute each roughly the size of a coke bottle. Each round blows up with the same Force as a hand grenade and let's just say that we have enough on board to do some serious damage. Jesus A lot of the Ghost Rider's crew the gun is on a trainable Mount which means it can pivot along two axes, making it easier to aim at the Target without having to reorient the entire plane. Jesus The ammunition also feeds in from two different chains. Three bullets a second. They switch to a second kind of ammunition. Here in front of us we have the 105 millimeter Howitzer Wow! Capable of shooting around 50 pounds. Yeah, let me show you. Okay Oh my gosh, for those of you watching this is every bit of 50 pounds and I Can't believe you guys have to grab these and load them up every time. Every single time create some serious Firepower Very serious. Yeah! So this round and this weapon uh, the Howitzer is actually used by the army they utilize It On The Ground Uh, here we have modified I Can't wait to like try shooting this thing myself. That's pretty crazy. Let's do it. I'm first attending Gordon Kowalkowski I'm a co-pilot on the Ac130j Ghost Rider One thing that's different about flying this aircraft is while we're in the gun orbit, we're actually maneuvering the plane around the guns. So in order to hit a Target that's outside of the guns maneuverable box, we will maneuver the aircraft in a way so that the guns can reach that Target And when the guns go off, you can definitely feel the recoil when the 105 goes off six feet in the opposite direction. and when the 30 goes off, it just someone's kicking your seat the whole time. Now, that massive recoil the 105 produces also causes the cannon to shoot back about 43 inches with 14 000 pounds of force, easily enough to do some serious damage to a crew member caught behind it. This yellow looking cage that we have here is actually called the safety cage. This was built around to protect crew members from The Recoil of the gun. So as long as you're not behind at Sam I think we'll be all right. Definitely. I Don't want to get a hand caught in there, but I can't imagine the damage that would do. Definitely making sure you're looking out for me. Oh, we got your back All right. Interesting. At this point, it was time to head inside the. Squadron Talk about that! Yeah! On my way up to the aircraft I stopped by Eric High equipment to pick up a few pieces of gear. The first was a safety helmet for protection that also allows me to communicate well I was about the mission. It's like something was made up of gloves I'll be required to wear when loading the guns. All right I got a helmet and a pair of gloves. That is what will be protecting me when I'm firing the 30 mil and the 105. so some of that with um checks out. After that, it was finally time to head back outside to load up for the flight. We're gonna be here in six minutes. Feeling a little nervous I Know this isn't a fighter jet or a helicopter doing low levels, but I mean the Firepower on this thing is crazy and the fact that I get to strap in and shoot it myself Sunday Just like we briefed. I Started out in the flight deck where I would be sitting for takeoff as the pilots ran their pre-flight checklist. probably the most important component of the Ghost Rider this dual console computer system known as the Mop or Mission operator palette. This is where all the weapon systems are. the ghosts right in the cameras, sensors, and most importantly, the trigger. The Mop is typically occupied by the combat and weapon systems officers. However, today, when we get out to the range, I'll have a chance to take a seat and give it a go myself. Sector 6-1 Runway Zero, four, then three. wait I mean that's kind of cool actually. one five Super Takeoff: After starting the engines and receiving Tower clearance for taxi and takeoff, my flight aboard the Mighty AC-130 was officially underway. Huh? Was that I've been doing some some AC-130 It's like you don't cut the boom bang like that. 15 16 miles until we get to the range and we'll start our shooting once we get all stuff done over there. All right? I'll plan on head to the back sweeping, ready to load those guns up? Yeah, absolutely And to shoot them too. Yeah, it's gonna be sweet. Good time. After making my way to the back I grabbed my helmet and gloves and found a seat behind the mop as I waited for the crew to finish prepping the guns. Before they're ready to fire, the guns have to be adjusted to a process called tweaking. This is very similar to lining up the sights on a rifle or shotgun. And for the AC-130 it involves firing rounds at different points in the gun orbit, so wind adjustments and other Corrections can be made from where we're shooting. Once all the tweaks were made, it was time to take my seat at the mop. The first thing I'll say is that to some extent it really did the video games playing a video game. The side controller where you see my left hand is where you change the position of the camera over the targets as well as the zoom. and you can actually adjust the sensitivity just like your typical Xbox or PlayStation controller. Yeah, I've been pushing forward. that's what you. So those are the things out left, right? This is just like Call of Duty guys I'm not kidding. it seriously was. But anyways, once I had a fairly good idea. he went there. It was finally I did too. But whatever. Starting out on gun one, the 30 mil, how's that weird propaganda? It's engineering. What does 130 guys? and don't worry, because I promise we're just getting started, huh? You got guns one and two online copies. Okay, so that was pretty cool, but I think it's time that we moved to the gun. I had been waiting patiently for Yep They're showing it in a good light and without the implication of death or whatever. For this, things were going to work a little bit differently. I Don't know. I'm not gonna go into the morals of it I I don't really give a it's entertaining I watched it. Yeah, things would work in working. It's entertaining I Watch it with friends. That's just kind of where it stops for me. That first piece of comms is from the simulated controller on the ground who is calling in the initial request for an airstrike I then responded send it which prompts the controller to transmit the coordinates and Target in this case a group of three enemy tanks, one enemy tank. Now, this final piece of comms you'll hear is my favorite part because it includes a checklist rundown from the entire crew. oh, that's the Rizzo or weapon systems officer. I'll relay the gun type ammunition and distance to Target which then allows the Sizzo or combat systems officer next to me to confirm it, then goes to the pilot who has a consent switch up in the flight deck before going back down to the Gunners who load the ammunition and confirm that gun 2 is ready to fire. Arm two got too armed good already rounds away. Boom! That's a direct let's go. That's insane. What the Oh, that's a direct let's go six. one gun already level two, nine, browser on target fire for effect from the pilot. We're gonna descend down to another way I Like stuck around this long. you'll know that there's still one engineering of the gun experience loading the way they look kind of cool and they're very myself elaborate engineered. That's how I feel about it the aircraft I Realized this was not going to be the easiest thing I'd ever done handling 50-pound rounds at almost 10 000. I treat this the same way experiencing some pretty bad turbulence. Let's hope I brought my a game. All right Sam We're gonna get you on the 105. Uh, shooting some TP around you. good with that I Want you to be absolutely careful because the turbulence right now is really bad. But remember how this works right? you're gonna take your hand gonna cut the back you want to cut 65.

okay we're gonna take it out. Slide it into your hand and you're gonna swing over. That slides right in, right? Okay, awesome, Does that make sense? Yep, it was actually a little bit more complicated than it sounded, especially remembering how to arm it once it was loaded in the gun. But anyways I gave it my best shot. Thank you! All right, it's already selected so you're going to close your breach, hit the F1 and then arm it. Got ready I'm ready Jesus and definitely lacking the speed that an actual AC-130 Gunner has. But hey, not bad for my first time. It can be way more fun to let the experts have at it as we finished up our final few rounds before landing. I Can't do one of these 50 pounds guys. I don't even know what to say about that one. I've been fascinated by the AC-130 ever since I was a kid. So to be able to come out here to Canon to fly with them. It was just amazing as always. Thank you so much for tuning in I Hope you learned something new and I'll catch you in the next one. Interesting, What? That's not hashtag? It's the opposite. but it does something as an hashtag ad without doing it. But they know why it's happening. I Get it dude. it's dude. I'm not dumb dude.