The AC-130 gunships were used during the Vietnam War to destroy enemy supply ships. Hercules gunships use more precise guided weapons, such as GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs or Hellfire anti-tank Missiles. The US Air Force launched a pilot program recently to install a high-energy Laser on the AC-130J gunship. The gunship can inflict injuries on combatants and cause equipment damage from far away with the laser weapon system.
Lockheed Martin has been selected by the Air Force Special Operations Command to create a new laser weapon system that will be used on its AC-130J gunships. The Airborne High Energy Laser is a 60-kilowatt, laser weapon that can vaporize a target from a long range. You can use the laser to destroy targets both in the air or on the ground. It can also be used for detonating enemy ammo dumps. Lockheed Martin and the Air Force plan to test the AHEL in the coming years on AC-130J gunships. The weapon will be fitted to the AC-130J eventually and the aircraft can operate in clandestine operation.
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has been researching the idea of a Laser Weapon for some time. The AC-130J Ghostrider can attack enemy at long ranges using the laser weapon system. It will not leave any trace of the attack. The laser weapon system can be used to strike targets at great distances without the need for optics. The laser can also be mounted on an aircraft's underside. This will enable the aircraft to carry out covert attacks, which could be used in the future.
The Air Force intends to mount the laser weapon aboard AC-130J Ghostrider gunships over the next few decades. The Air Force has completed initial design work and the contractor continues to test and implement the weapon. Next will be ground and flight testing and installation of the weapon onto the AC-130J. The Air Force has stated that it hopes to start testing the laser weapon system in the fiscal year of 2022.
The US Air Force will continue its testing of the AC-130J aircraft's laser system, and the contractor intends to start integrating a weapon system onto the AC-130J the following year. The AC-130J aircraft has a large amount of weight that could limit its operational range. The gunship will be able to stop air defense from reaching its target because the AHEL allows it to do so. This weapon will allow the Ghostrider fire precision-guided munition such as GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs and Hellfire missiles.
The next stage of the AHEL program will require the laser to be fully integrated with the aircraft's beam control system. The Air Force hopes to start flight testing of the system on the AC-130J Ghostrider in 2022. The contractor has not yet announced when testing will begin, but the contract calls for a test flight of the system by the end of the fiscal year of 2023.