How many ac130s does the us have

The Afghan air force operated 23 A attack planes, four C cargo planes and a total of 33 militarized versions of the Cessna Caravan, some of which were configured for a light attack mission, according to the special inspector report.

It also flew about helicopters, which included the American-made UH Black Hawk utility helicopter and armed MDs, as well as the Soviet Mi, which the Afghan air force was in the process of retiring. Unlike a fighter jet built for speed and maneuverability in a dogfight, the A is optimized for counterinsurgency missions where an aircraft needs to fly slow and low to strike targets on the ground. The aircraft can be flown by relatively inexperienced pilots and operated in austere environments.

Mark Kelly, who leads Air Combat Command. While the Taliban could seek to sell captured aircraft, none of the planes or helicopters operated by the Afghan air force contain sensitive technologies that would be useful to nations like China or Russia, said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group. The Taliban would face a long list of obstacles if it sought to operate the equipment itself, using the remaining airplanes and helicopters to form the basis of an ad-hoc air force.

An even larger hurdle for the Taliban would be the cost, expertise and logistics associated with maintaining the aircraft, an expensive proposition that involves servicing aircraft before and after flight, conducting repairs and buying spare parts. The ones that got away. Not all military aircraft were left in Afghanistan for the Taliban to recover. The Afghan air force has also sought safe haven in Uzbekistan, although it is unclear how many aircraft and personnel have flown into the country over the past several days.

The office also stated that three more A attack aircraft requested permission to land on Aug. The pilots of both aircraft ejected safely.

A Taliban spokesman said on Monday that the group now controls the six provinces in which those cities are located. Lashkar Gah, another important city in southern Afghanistan, is also being attacked. The Taliban commander in charge of the assault was reportedly one of several thousand prisoners whom U.

In the west, the historic city of Herat, which saw the infamous rising that precipitated the Soviet invasion the following year, an aging warlord and his militia fighters are holding the Taliban at bay, for now. And on Monday, the Taliban announced they had launched a four-pronged attack on Mazar-i-Sharif, which was taken by the Northern Alliance in November in the first major victory of the U.

The Taliban continue to carry out an assassination campaign against Afghan pilots to deprive the Kabul government of its lone advantage: airpower. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

In little more than one month, the United States will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. ACs were also part of the buildup of U. Gunships provide armed reconnaissance, interdiction and direct support of ground troops engaged with enemy forces. The U. The demonstration, which took place in The flagship of the U.

France's ambassador to Australia, Jean-Pierre Thebault, said on Wednesday that Australia acted with deceit when it abruptly cancelled a The military's non-tactical vehicle fleet alone is the second largest in the federal government next to the U. The Kremlin has made modernization of the military a top priority as relations with Western nations have sunk to post-Cold While it's impossible to predict every kind of danger that will be present on a future battlefield, enough is known to The responsibility for preventing future calamities will rest largely with ship commanders, officials said.

A report has concluded there were failures by commanders and crew members that fueled the July arson fire that destroyed My Profile News Home Page. Latest Equipment Videos.