The head of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) expects the AC-130J, currently being outfitted with the 105mm Howitzer cannon, to enter operational testing this summer after a long stint in testing.

ac-130j
An AC-130J taxis the runway for its first official sortie Jan. 31, 2014, at Eglin AFB, Fla. Photo: Air Force.

Though Air Force Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold said Wednesday that it’s going to be a while before the service gets the AC-130J out of testing, nobody is “throwing up red flares” that the aircraft will be significantly delayed. Heithold said the AC-130J has been in testing about a year after the Air Force decided to install the 105mm Howitzer cannon. 

“When you have one gun and the gun goes hot or you can’t shoot it anymore, it’s nice to be able to go to that second gun,” Heithold told an audience at an Air Force Association (AFA) Mitchell Hour presentation in Arlington, Va. “So we decided to put it into the program.”

When the 105 is installed, Heithold said the AC-130J will be the “ultimate battle plane” capable of dropping AGM-167 Griffin missiles, Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), laser-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles, in addition to the 105mm cannon and a 30mm CAU-23/A cannon. Heithold said developmental testers have the aircraft right now and his operational testers are flying along. Heithold also said the 105 is being installed on the third AC-130J and will then be retrofitted onto the first two aircraft.

AC-130J initial operational capability (IOC) is expected in fiscal year 2017 and the last delivery is scheduled for FY ’21, according to the Air Force. The unit cost for an AC-130J is $109 million in FY ’10 dollars.

The AC-130J’s primary missions are “danger close air support,” according to Heithold, and air interdiction. The AC-130J, developed by Lockheed Martin [LMT], is a highly modified C-130J that contains advanced features like a two-pilot flight station with fully integrated digital avionics. The AC-130J is also capable of extremely accurate navigation due to the fully integrated navigation systems with dual inertial navigation systems and Global Positioning System (GPS), according to the Air Force.

Heithold said in January he is slowing plans to retire aging AC-130s to meet operational demands until the new version of the gunship is ready to go (Defense Daily, Jan. 27).

The Air Force did not respond to a request for comment by press time.