News
from the
AC-119 Gunship Association
May 1, 2009
Page
Updated
February 2, 2010
New
AC-27J "Stinger" Put
on Hold
The Alenia AC-27J is a proposed light gunship for the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) based on the Alenia C-27J Spartan airlifter.
The AC-27J gunship is planned to replace aging AC-130 gunships. In May 2009, the program was put on hold due to lack of funding in the fiscal 2010 budget.
The AC-27J, dubbed "Gunship Light", is being developed to
fulfill the requirements that AFSOC had defined under the AC-XX concept
that it envisioned as a replacement for the aging and extensively used
AC-130s. The AC-27J is powered by two Rolls-Royce plc turboprops.
Its armament will consist of either a 30-millimeter or 40-millimeter
gun and the AC-27 will fire stand-off, precision-guided munitions like
the Northrop Grumman-built Viper Strike bomb.
The AC-27J will be a multi-mission platform, equipped with full-motion
video cameras and capable of covert infil/exfil as well as armed support
from above.
AFSOC plans to acquire 16 aircraft, the first in fiscal 2011. Two additional
gunships would be purchased each year from 2012 to 2015, although delivery
of aircraft could be expedited.
The "gunship light/lite" concept that has been circulating
is, like AC-XX, now considered to be synonymous with the AC-27J.
At the Air Force Association's 2008 conference, it was reported that the AC-27J variant will be named "Stinger II" after the AC-119K Stinger. C-27A, 90-0170 (c/n 4097) retired to AMARC 11 January 1999 as CC0007, assigned civil registration N2290E, was removed from storage in October 2008 and delivered to Eglin AFB, Florida, for use by Air Force Research Laboratory to test feasibility of mounting of 30mm and 40mm guns. The fully assembled airframe was at Eglin main base by December 2008.
In May 2009, the program was put on hold because Army funding for 40
C-27s in a USA-USAF cooperative purchase has been removed from the
fiscal 2010 budget. Currently, Air Force Special Operations Command
will stick with the C-130 for solutions to its stated need for gunships.
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