The head of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) believes the service can put a high energy laser with both offensive and defensive capabilities on an AC-130 aircraft by the end of this decade.
Air Force Gen. Bradley Heithold said Thursday he believes the technology is mature now. He’s identified an AC-130W as a test aircraft and has a “little bit” of science and technology (S&T) money to move the effort forward. Air Force spokesman Michael Raynor said Thursday the amount of S&T funds available has not yet been finalized, but is presumed to be enough to conduct the first demonstration.
Heithold said the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) has been at Hurlburt Field, Fla.; home of AFSOC; all week, looking at the feasibility of placing a laser on an AC-130. An office in the Joint Chief of Staffs, he said, is also developing tactics, techniques and procedures for using lasers in battle.
“This stuff is moving and it’s moving forward pretty quickly, largely because we’re pushing hard on it,” Heithold told an audience the Association of Old Crows Symposium in Washington.
Raynor said the scope of the desired capabilities is still being determined and will be based on the laser that is chosen for the demonstration. Although Raynor said AFSOC has some general ideas regarding the laser for the demo, it hasn’t yet committed to one. Raynor said if all the various aspects of the demonstration come together, AFSOC intends to start laser testing in third quarter fiscal year 2020.
The Air Force didn’t enter operational testing with an AC-130J, featuring a 105mm Howitzer cannon, this summer like Heithold, earlier this year, had hoped. Raynor said the AC-130J program is set to begin an operational utility evaluation (OUE) on Dec. 14. The aircraft, he said, will be a Block 10 configuration, which does not have a 105mm gun.
Raynor said the Air Force did reach operational testing with the AC-130J in the summer because it doesn’t have the 105mm yet. Raynor said the first AC-130J with a 105mm gun (Block 20) is scheduled to be delivered in September 2016. He said it will then enter delta developmental testing and crew training in advance of the planned operational testing start in the third quarter of FY ’17.
Heithold said in March the AC-130J will become the “ultimate battle plane” when the 105mm gun is installed (Defense Daily, March 18). It will be capable of dropping AGM-167 Griffin missiles, Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), laser-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles, in addition to the 105 and a 30mm CAU-23/A cannon.
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.