An Air Force AC-130 gunship destroyed a truck on Tuesday in Western Iraq after the aircraft’s crew watched Iranian-backed militia fighters use the vehicle to launch a ballistic missile attack on U.S. troops, injuring eight Americans, defense officials said.
“Immediately following the attack, a U.S. military AC-130 aircraft in the area conducted a self-defense strike against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and a number of Iranian-backed militia personnel involved in this attack,” according to U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM. “This self-defense strike resulted in several enemy casualties.”
I’m honestly not convinced this was even an oversight. It’s a pretty legit flex, tbh: “We’re gonna explosively dismantle your stuff with an orbiting heavy gunship and there ain’t shit you can do about it. But you can watch us do it in real time on flightaware, so enjoy that!”
A C-130 isn’t exactly stealthy at the best of times, they’re, big, loud, and presumably have a massive radar return. They’re also flying in visual conditions at reasonably low level, so can be easily seen.
They probably decided colliding with another aircraft was a bigger hazard.
Not to mention they fly at altitudes that make it far more likely that you hear your little clay bunker next door get fragged before you hear the gunship. The zoom on those guns make them essentially crew-served howitzer sniper rifles.
Add comment