It is coming, the AC-130 killstreak is coming. Modern Warfare 2 looks like it is going to be one of the best games coming out this year, with customized killstreaks a new campaign, all new survival mode Special Ops, brand new weapons, and new perks. in the end, get your piggy banks ready. Modern Warfare 2 is coming.

AC-130
無得傾~本人極力推介
我係一個COD狂迷第4集就更唔在講，記得第4集有一關係一架AC-130轟炸地面支援作戰。
今次就係玩轟炸地面支援作戰~
個感覺就同打COD差無幾！
現代戰~
正正正~

。

Check it out after the click.

EDIT – Added multiplayer AC130 video, and the Capture the flag Mutliplayer runner video.

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If you read USAF news releases, you could be excused for thinking that the Air Force is 100% occupied – and preoccupied – with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every other day, regular as clockwork, there’s an “airpower summary” posted, all of which are basically summarized as “jets kill insurgents, film at 11.” What’s easy to overlook is that there are a sizable number of Air Force assets deployed stateside, and who have nothing to do with the Global War on Terra.

The 1st Air Force, also known as “Air Force Northern” or simply “AFNORTH”, is the body responsible for all those boring domestic operations like providing support for political conventions, major sporting events like the Super Bowl, and things of that sort. Earlier this year, they produced a nifty handbook detailing their organization, operations, and (airborne) assets, as they apply to the support of civil authorities – i.e. domestic security and disaster-relief operations.

It’s an interesting look at some lesser-known capabilities of the Air Force, and provides details of both lesser-known assets – RC-26, ARCHER, EO-5, Eagle Vision, anyone? – and better-known systems one might not normally associate with domestic civil support operations – the U-2, E-8, MQ-9, or AC-130, for example. If you’re a fan of obscure military aviation trivia, this stuff’s for you. Even if you’re not so into that stuff, it’s probably worth downloading; there’s a lot of interesting information about, let’s be honest, quite a number of things buried in this handbook. (A U-2 mission can cost $12,500 per hour? Crikey. A RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV is a mere $3,400 per hour, and an OH-58 helicopter just – albeit quite precisely! – $942 per hour.) Want a map of the CONUS air defense network? It’s there. (No, really – page 91.)

The handbook – the 1AF “Defense Support of Civil Authorities Air Support Handbook 2009″ – weighs in at 5.4MB, and can be downloaded here (Adobe PDF). Enjoy…

Die New York Times vom 9.11.2008 meldet:

Es haben in der Bush-Ära seit 2004 erheblich mehr Überfälle auf souveräne Staaten durch US-Militärkommandos stattgefunden, als bislang bekannt war. Auf insgesamt 20 Staaten, die sich nicht mit den USA im Kriegszustand befinden, wurden Sondereinsätze der Special Operations Forces durchgeführt oder geplant. Grundlage war eine Geheimanordnung des Präsidenten. Jede Sonderaktion mußte durch den Präsidenten oder durch den damaligen “Verteidigungs”minister Donald Rumsfeld abgesegnet werden. Vorwand für diese Verletzungen internationalen Völkerrechts war die Suche nach Al Quaida-Terroristen. Allein 11 Angriffe soll es demzufolge gegen Ziele in Syrien oder Pakistan gegeben haben. Im Fadenkreuz befanden sich zudem die islamischen Staaten Jemen, Saudi-Arabien, sowie alle Anrainerstaaten des Persischn Golfs.

Gerechtfertigt wurden diese von keinem Parlament der USA gebilligten oder auch nur zur Kenntnis genommenen Blitzeinsätze mit der Notwendigkeit, gegen terroristische Gefahren schnell vorgehen zu müssen, bevor Schlimmeres geschieht. Die New York Times: “Das Pentagon hat seine Befugnisse häufig genutzt und Kommandotruppen in Länder wie Pakistan und Somalia geschickt.”

Hier überschnitten sich die Aufgabenbereiche des US-Militärs mit den Aufgaben des Geheimdienstes CIA. Zum Teil wurden die Aufgaben in Zusammenarbeit erfüllt, bisweilen gab es auch gegenseitige Mißtrauen. Die genauen Vollmachten des Militärs gegenüber dem Geheimdienst wurden in dem Erlaß “Al Qaeda Network Exord” festgelegt.

Konkretes Fallbeispiel, wie sie der New York Times von nicht genannten Personen aus dem Geheimdienstumfeld berichtet wurden: 2006 fielen US-Kommandos in die Bajaur-Region in Pakistan ein und durchkämmten Dörfer und Felder. Via Webcam schauten sich die CIA in Langley in Virginia den Vollzug der Anordnung an.

Tatort Somalia: als Ende 2006 äthiopische Truppen in Somalia einmarschierten, um die erste reguläre Regierung Somalias seit vielen Jahren zu stürzen, schickte im Windschatten der äthiopischen Truppen das Pentagon sog. Joint Special Operations Command-Kämpfer zu einem Einsatz in der äthiopischen Stadt Dire Dawa. Von dieser logistischen Ausgangsbasis wurden Überfälle auf somalisches Gebiet unternommen, um vorgeblich mit der Task Force 88 (!) Al Quaida-Kämpfer zu jagen (tot oder lebendig), die an Bombenattentaten auf US-Botschaften in Kenia und Tansania beteiligt gewesen sein sollen. Hierbei kamen auch die berüchtigten Terrorbomber AC-130 zum Einsatz. Die Bordkanoniere jagen mit ihren Geschützen im Tiefflug Menschen am Boden wie die Kaninchen. Wie sich das für die Opfer anfühlt, wird hier beschrieben.

Im Zusammenhang mit dieser Aktion wurde am 7.1.2007 durch eine AC-130 ein somalisches Fischerdorf an der Grenze zu Kenia in Schutt und Asche gelegt. Nach vollzogener Tat durchkämmten US-amerikanische und äthiopische Kampftruppen gemeinsam die Leichenberge, um zu sehen, ob auch gesuchte Al-Quaida-Leute unter den Toten sind.

Naval Special Operations

Put American heroes on your wall. Check out our selection of posters, framed prints, and calendars with Special Operations themes at The PatriArt Gallery. Make great holiday gifts, too.

Some in the Pentagon worry the armed services are becoming too dependent on irregular warfare, but one military official in charge of training commanders how to use special operations forces argues the risk of becoming too heavily invested in IW skills is acceptable given the current threat environment, writes Inside the Pentagon.
Some active-duty and retired general officers have warned that focusing on IW capabilities could lead to an erosion of more traditional warfare skill sets over time. That erosion of conventional warfare capabilities could put U.S. forces at a disadvantage should a more conventional conflict erupt, these officers argue.

But until the Defense Department is able to develop overarching guidance to properly balance irregular and conventional warfare skill sets within general purpose forces, the risk of swaying too far toward IW capability is one that U.S. force will have to accept, Col. Wesley Rehorn told Inside the Pentagon in an Oct. 14 interview. “Is there a possibility that the general purpose forces could sort of tip that teeter-totter too far to being more SOF-like? No doubt about it,” Rehorn said.

Read more at Inside Defense (subscription required)

In a previous post (75.000 flight hours for the ItAF C-130J and first C-27J delivered to the US Army) I explained that two C-27J of the 98° Gruppo of the 46^ Brigata Aerea of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force, ItAF) based in Pisa, are currently deployed to the FSB (Forward Support Base) Herat, in Afghanistan, to undertake intra-theatre transportation missions, while the first example of C-27J for the US was delivered to the US Army at Waco. This first operative mission could be only the first “combat” experience for the Spartan. In fact, at the end of July Aviation Week reported that the Pentagon’s budget reprogramming for the year 2008 included a request for 32 million dollars from the AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command) in order to buy a single C-27J “Spartan”. The aircraft will not be used for tactical in-theatre airlift but to be converted into a gunship. The AC-XX (maybe AC-27J) is going to integrate a various range of weapons and systems: electronic countermeasures for self-protection, surveillance and targeting turrets, surveillance systems, digital control systems and armament. Even if it was specified, it is possible that the new version of the C-27J will integrate Helmet Mounted Display (read also: “Helmet Mounted Display for the C-27J & Sky-X automatic refueling“). The aircraft should support the ageing AC-130 gunships, whose long-term survivability has concerned the AFSOC. Among the possible options for improving the gunship’s fleet there’s also the possibility to use a smaller and lighter aircraft like the C-27J, or even an aircraft with stealth capabilities. The tradeoff is clear: even if the aircraft could carry less weapons and would have less power and endurance, it could be able to operate from smaller and unprepared airstrips. The single prototype, named AC-XX Gunship Lite, “….will serve as a risk mitigation effort to field a new platform to operate in austere locations, with increased operational flexibility and a smaller support tail of manpower and logistics”. The idea is to create a small fleet of gunship-modified C-27Js, even if the programme will have to compete with other projects in the annual “wishlist”.
For a first hand description of my flight with the C-27J read the article: “Acrobatic flight with the Alenia C-27J“

Aviation Calendar 2009

Our military Aviation Calendar 2009 features 13 images of US and allied military aircraft in action. Buy the Aviation Calendar 2009 exclusively at the PatriArt Gallery for only $ 19.99. Worldwide delivery available.

Air Force Special Operations Command has received Pentagon approval to purchase 16 L-3 Communications-Alenia AC-27 gunships, according to a senior service official.

The approval — delivered via program decision memorandum II — also gives the Air Force the OK to install a medium-caliber cannon on the aircraft, according to Brig. Gen. Bradley Heithold, AFSOC’s top acquisition officer. His comments came during an Oct. 7 presentation during a munitions conference here.

In addition to either a 30-millimeter or 40-millimeter gun, the AC-27 will fire stand-off, precision-guided munitions like the Northrop Grumman-built Viper Strike bomb, the one-star said.
Read the full report at InsideDefense.com

By Dana Lewis
Fox New

BAGRAM, Afghanistan —  The Air Force is shifting its strategy to combat enemy fighters in Afghanistan after commanders ordered a review of a joint U.S.-Afghan air strike that the Afghan government said killed 90 civilians in August.

Military commanders at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, say they’re employing new procedures to “amplify” what the Air Force was already doing to avoid civilian casualties, such as using a fly-by tactic with F-15 attack Eagles to scatter anti-coalition forces.

The strikes in August were called in by American Special Forces using an AC-130H gunship, also known as a Spectre. It uses computer tracking and targeting equipment to fire 105mm howitzer, 40mm bofors, and 20mm Vulcan cannons — a very deadly aircraft to be deployed in a civilian area.

Above: AC-130H Spectre gunship launches flares in 2007

Initially, despite video showing the bodies of women and children, the U.S. Army claimed only five to seven civilians were killed in the attack on Afghan militants. Now a U.S. military investigation has concluded that at least 33 civilians, including 12 children, were killed.

Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified in recent past months. On Sunday, Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, rejected media reports that the alliance was losing the war against the Taliban and called on troop-contributing countries to send more soldiers and military gear in order to achieve success more quickly.

Read the rest:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,436982,00.html

Don Rumsfeld once said that “you go to war with Army you have”. The AC 130 aerial attack on the small Afghan Village of Azizabad is a classic example of misplaced priorities in the Pentagon.

Afghan and coalition forces were undertaking an operation in the area in pursuit of a Taliban commander named Mullah Siddiq. The attack on Azizabad was launched when intelligence reports indicated that Siddiq was in the village. A large crowd had assembled in Azizabad to commemorate the recent death of a local leader. When the airstrike occurred, an estimated 90 people – 60 children and 30 adults – were killed and many homes were destroyed, according to witnesses and a report made by the Afghanistan government. This has later been confirmed by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), led by the norwegian diplomat Kai Eide. The attack was carried out by a US AC-130 ground attack aircraft.

Using the 105 Millimeter Howitzer from 10,000 feet to blow up a town while seeking one man, is a classic example of mismatched firepower. It is almost as stupid as using F-18 Strike fighters in Counterterrorism operations. Now that the Army is finally admitting they may have killed a lot of civilians, perhaps we can begin to recalibrate our fighting strategy in Afghanistan. If our soldiers believe they can call in airstrikes whenever they are under attack, with no regard to collateral damage, we will never win the hearts and minds of the Afghani people.

In what appears to be a significant departure from previously announced intentions, Air Force Special Operations Command now eyes the AC-27J, a weaponized version of the C-27J transport, as its next gunship.

AFSOC now sees the AC-27J as the solution to fulfill the requirements that the command had defined under the notional AC-XX concept that it envisioned as a replacement for the aging and extensively used AC-130s.

Read more about the AC-27J and the AFSOC gunship gap at Air Force Magazine

2 missiles that, according to a local politician have been identified as US owned by the marking on the shrapnel, blew up a shack in remote Dobley, Somalia today (is that near Chicago?).

Apparently the US thought some militant Islamic group from Mogadishu (c’mon you remember the movie, it made Josh Hartnett’s short lived career) was meeting there.

Instead it belongs to a man who says his daughter was injured and 4 cows were killed.

And hey, this may be the 4th time we’ve decided to drop bombs into Somali residential neighborhoods in the past year.

It would seem to me that if the US government wanted to stop terrorism, they should probably stop hurting innocent civilians.

I know that if I were sitting in my house, and all of a sudden I heard a whistling noise, and my house exploded, and my family was now dead, I would make it my life’s work to find out who did it and make them pay.

But that’s just me, I’m crazy like that. And I wouldn’t need the Koran to fuel my hate.

Click to enlarge