The U.S. Air Force doesn’t want to waste its your money. In theory. In practice, the U.S.A.F.’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) tries to make sure sh*t works as advertised. Robert F. Behler’s 2017 annual fiscal [sic] report reveals that the 30mm cannon on the new AC130J Ghostrider gunship is having “issues.” airforcetimes.com reports . . .
https://youtu.be/cYiT1wWoAlU
The AC-130J Ghostrider’s 30mm cannon fires up to 200 Coca-Cola bottle-sized rounds per minute ― but it recoils so heavily it causes a “retrigger,” forcing the gun to automatically stop firing while it re-centers itself. The operator then has to release and re-pull the trigger to start shooting again . . .
The report said that the retrigger happens when the 30mm’s recoil kicks it beyond a preset angular limit, which is called “tracking inhibit,” which shuts off the gun and starts the re-centering process.
Now how much did you pay? But wait! There’s more!
The 30mm, which is a pallet-mounted, side-firing chain gun, is also having calibration problems. Its gun fire control system should compensate for altitude, slant range and ambient wind changes after it is calibrated, to make sure the first rounds fired at the target are accurate.
But that’s not happening, testers said.
“Operators are unable to independently update the [fire control system’s] wind calibration factor without changing the inherent gun-mount calibration factor,” the report said . . .
The report also dinged the Ghostrider for its software complexity, inadequate training and technical manuals, and overall operating environment, which it said diminishes the aircraft’s usability.
Speaking of the gunship’s operating environment, it’s a good thing the Ghostrider’s 105mm cannon — added at the insistence of former head of Air Force Special Operations Command Lt. Gen. Bradley “I Want Two Guns” Heithold — is such a joy to operate. Or is it?
The Air Force has added panels to cover the cargo area floor of the modified MC-130J, to reduce the risk of air crew tripping. But those new panels are interfering with the loading of the 105mm shells, the report said.
And the 105mm ammunition rack doesn’t have a forward restraint, which is causing “an excessive number of rounds” to come loose.
Question: what’s an acceptable number of 105mm rounds to come loose inside an airplane?
I know: teething troubles. All new weapons systems have them. It’s only a matter of time before the Air Force sorts out the problems bedeviling “the ultimate battle plane.” Time and money. Lots and lots of money.
I think I like it. I’d have to hold one to be sure.
I think ttag would benefit from covering more DGUs. It seems there are more IGOTD articles than DGU articles. These stories are the reason we fight against every infringement.
They need “Lhay-Zhers”
Any problem can be fixed with a little bit of luck and a whole lot of money.
Ok, age showing…..I was there when the 130 were converted to gunships originally. Before the end in Vietnam, the 130s has 20mm, 40mm and 105mm guns. I don’t remember any complaints about unreliable fire control systems, or any of the equipment. What has happened that the current geniuses cannot achieve what was mastered all those years ago?
BTW, I witnessed a 130 gunship drop into a jungle airfield, dump brass, and return to the fight (which was just over the hill). Apparently, the gun crews (loaders, not gunners) couldn’t stand up with all the shell casings on the deck, and they ejects needed to be removed. Snow shovels were on the TOE.
I’ll second that. I knew several crew members and guys on the ground directing fire.
It worked just fine In Panama.
I’ve chatted with men who were crew in AC-130’s, and they never, ever had a complaint with the old inventory of hatred they aimed at the ground. Ever. They always said “the best part of the whole ship is that everything just worked.” They loved how there wasn’t that much was was “stupidly high-tech.” The guns were well-proven, the plane was well-proven, their only complaint was that it was loud as hell, even when the guns weren’t firing.
As a taxpayer, I always thought of the AC-130 as something that was bought, paid for, it worked, why screw around with it?
Oh, wait – I know. Some engineer got a bright idea…
What? No brass catchers? What were they thinking?
NRA lifetime member Gretchen Wilson slaying Heart’s Barracuda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqQkECIn738
Here is the up side: we just found our perfect person to take this all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and win. Note that her case will take several years to bubble-up all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and that should be ample time for Trump to appoint (and the U.S. Senate to approve) another conservative justice. (We need one more conservative justice on the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure that the Court takes her case and she wins.)
Darwin award winners.
Harley’s 115th Anniversary is taking place this August in Milwaukee, and they’ve established some rides to get you there. For me, it would mean having to ride through Illinois. F that. I selected a different route, up through Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa and over through Wisconsin. My permit is honored in all five states I’ll be driving through. Yes, I refuse to even drive through their state, lest those crotchsniffing gun grabbers have any remote excuse for doing to me, what they did to Shaneen Allen and Hayley Leach.
National reciprocity CANNOT get here soon enough. It’s utterly outrageous that a State can make a Felon out of someone for exercising their CONSTITUTIONAL, ENUMERATED, and INCORPORATED rights!
Definitely take the IA/WI route, especially if you’re on two wheels. Mississippi bluff country – lots of curvy roads and purty scenery. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/PikesPeakStatePark.jpg
Simple rule…never, under any circumstances, visit socialist, totalitarian sh*tholes, like Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, NY, CA, MA, NJ, etc. If you have relatives who live there, insist they come and see you. There is simply no reason to put your life, liberty and happiness in the hands of a bunch of Stalinist wankers who would love nothing more that to throw you in jail and watch you rot there for what amounts to basically a non-offense, while engaging in whole-sale releases of gang-bangers and other actual murderers.
This single mother is the true cause of violent homes. But no one wants to hold the only adult, a woman, in the home accountable.
But the socialist progressives support the Welfare Industrial Complex for women like her.
Wow. Buy an actual snap gun. They’re usually cheaper than a powertool, they’re quieter AND they’re adjustable tension which means that they have a better chance of working faster. Electric lock-picks too exist and they’re more precise at doing what you want. But screw the price.
My SouthOrd snap gun will usually open a lock in two pulls of the trigger, about 15% the time that it took that stupidity to work.
Or you could just learn to actually PICK the lock. At the point you’re pulling out powertools it’s time to just pull a Bill O’Reilly, say “Fuck it! We’ll do it live!” and move to destructive bypass methods like a fucking drill.
It is her responsibility to know the local gun laws. Tough lesson to learn.
How exactly can you commit a felony without mens rea?
Yes, she should know the laws, but most people have no idea the level of corruption they’ll be dealing with when visiting slave states. And should we have to check all of our God given and Constitutionally protected rights when tra veling out of state?
Backstop, people. Backstop. Know where your round is going and make sure you know where it will stop. Simple stuff.
I used to buy the Boston Globe for 50 cents from the old man at his sidewalk stand at the corner of Dorrance and Weybossett in Providence, RI. I use to enjoy reading it. Now, I sometimes read the front page without buying it and find it disgusting.
Of course if you are an illegal alien, they will ignore the law and go out of their way to help you, basically roll out the red carpet for you. But if you are a law-abiding American citizen who gets ensnared by some gun control law, they will come down on you like a sack of bricks dropped from orbit. While I hate to sound super partisan, to a degree, the current Democratic party actively goes out of its way to harm American citizens while helping illegal aliens.
She’ll be fine. TTAG writer John Bosch assured us national reciprocity would pass late last year. After all,we are in the golden age of Trump. And Congress is held by Republicans.
Criminy! Isn’t the real issue having to ask permission from your rulers what you can wear? Where I hunt I can wear a Hawaiian flowerty shirt and a rainbow umbrella hat if I darn well please. Who cares if someone (dude or chick) likes pink? It’s a free market, don’t buy it if you don’t like it. (Most of) Y’all are spending a lot of pixels to completely miss the point.
I’m certain these are some of the same people recorded (video) talking about hearing/seeing the state-of-the-union address one day before the address actually happened.
Taran, don’t sponsor the hypocritical idiot anymore. She doesn’t deserve to go to SHOT or carry a gun. She can go back to a slingshot and/or a pea-shooter.