AC-130J in high demand

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Colonel Terence Taylor, commander of Combined Joint Special Operations Air Component–Afghanistan, told reporters recently that the new AC-130J gunship are in high demand over Afghanistan. Taylor said the gunships were flying every night and so far clocked 218 sorties. The new aircraft’s missions are part of an increase in the pace of the air war following the collapse of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban in early September, and a vow by President Donald Trump “to hit our enemy harder” than ever before. The Air Force's new AC-130J has been operating over Afghanistan for a little more than four months. The AC-130J Ghostwriter’s gunship comes with the standard 105 mm cannon and an additional 30 mm GAU-23/A cannon, along with wing pylons designed to haul both GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles