A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

A Naval Air base a few miles from where I live had an open house today so I dropped by. One of the planes there was the latest model C130-J Gunship, a couple of pictures of the exterior armament is below. The crew was there and since I was C130 crew one upon a time, I ended up talking to them. The armament surprised me, turns out it was found and fitted almost on a scavenger hunt, not the "price is no object" you tend to think of all things military.

In the first picture below, the larger weapon on the right is a 105 mm Vietnam era howitzer. Even older is the weapon on the left, it is a 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun of WWII fame. If you've ever seen the old film clips taken on American warships during the Japanese kamikaze attacks, these guns are prominently featured. I think they called them "pom-pom" guns. I was told that the guns were scavenged off old Navy boats.

As far as I know, neither of these guns in in use anywhere else in the world. Just like the Ma Duce (M2) .50 cal machine gun, still in use after the better part of a century, and the B-52 now going on 60, it shows that classic designs will stay around.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...m/DSC04401.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...m/DSC04398.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...m/DSC04397.jpg

Re: A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

Don't they also carry a 105mm gun as well?

Re: A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

Yeah, in the 1st shot above the 105 is the big gun, the 40 is the smaller one to the left pointing down.

Below is a shot of the 40 from the inside. It's hard to get good inside shots, it's dark, close and cramped in there. The C130s that I crewed were cargo configured and the hold was open, unlike the gunship version. They told me that every takeoff was at close to max weight.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...m/DSC04405.jpg

Re: A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

Can anyone tell me what kind of aircraft this picture is looking down the side of?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...m/DSC04424.jpg

Re: A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

Tom, Is that a FA/18 Hornet? Ha guess not!

Re: A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

You're right about one thing, you don't want to be anywhere near that intake when the engine is coming up to thrust.

Harrier VTOL is the type of aircraft.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...m/DSC04417.jpg

Re: A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

I'm strictly a civilian so pardon the question if it seems ignorant. How the heck are you supposed to see to aim at what your shooting?

Re: A little Government firepower, still in use after decades
 

The guys at the guns feed them, period. The aiming and firing is done from here-- See the aiming and firing control on the far right? A little different from sight alignment and trigger squeeze.

The guns are hydraulically controlled. Go here to see this type of aircraft in action.


http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...m/DSC04408.jpg