elef Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 The Nation Today Link US air strike against suspected Al-Qaeda members in Somalia: US media WASHINGTON - The US military launched an air strike against members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network in southern Somalia, but it is unclear whether the operation was a success, US media said Monday. An AC-130 aerial gunship flew the mission in the last 24 hours, CNN said, citing a senior Pentagon official. "Sources say a lot of bodies were seen on the ground after the strike," CBS News said. "The targets included the senior Al-Qaeda leader in East Africa and an Al-Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa," in Kenya and Tanzania, CBS said. The suspected terrorists were chased out of Mogadishu by US-backed troops and were tracked by US unmanned aerial drones, CBS said. The AC-130 gunship, operated by the US Special Operations Command, flew from its base in Djibouti for the attack, CBS said. NBC News said it was not clear whether the operation was a success. The AC-130 gunship has machine guns capable of firing thousands of round per second. A US Defense Department spokesman, Todd Vician, was unable to confirm the reports. Ethiopian and Somali government forces routed Islamists controlling the capital Mogadishu last month. The joint forces last week evicted the Islamists from the southern port town of Kismayo, forcing them into scrublands along the border with Kenya. The United States rapidly deployed US warships off the coast of Somalia last week to track down fleeing Islamists. Washington says the Islamists -- leaders of the Islamic Courts movement that had gained control of much of Somalia in the final months of last year - include prominent operatives of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization. In 1998, Al-Qaeda militants, using materials smuggled through Somalia, blew up the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people and injuring thousands. Attacks in 2002 on an Israeli airliner and Israeli-owned hotel in the Kenyan port city of Mombassa also emanated from Somalia, US officials said. To counter the threat, the US military in 2002 set up a 1,500-member counter-terrorism unit -- the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa -- in a former French foreign legion outpost in Djibouti, just north of Somalia. The US has also poured aid and military assistance into Christian-dominated Ethiopia, where Djibouti-based US counter-terrorism advisers have routinely joined army patrols roaming the country's border region near Somalia. Agence France-Presse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 AMERIKA! FUCK YEAH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hi, "capable of firing thousands of round per second." This sounds unlikely to me. Guess they meant 'per minute'. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hi KS, yes it sounds a little high but 6000 rounds/minute or 100 per second is possible at least with this gatling gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianTroy Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 AMERIKA! FUCK YEAH! haha, that same song popped up to my head as well! Was it authorized by the Somalies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 If it wasn't, I expect it will be. The target was the folks who are fighting the Somali government (such as it is). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hi, "capable of firing thousands of round per second." This sounds unlikely to me. Guess they meant 'per minute'. Sanuk! KS, This plane, depending on how it is armed could basically fly over a football field, open fire, and kill everything on the field...not missing a single target...it is that deadly...flys low and slow, severel of these electric powered gattling guns do in fact fire an effective rate of thousands of rounds per second...add to that grenade launchers and rockets (if equiped with them) and it is one nasty machine... Here are some specs...from http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/ac-130.htm Specifications AC-130H Spectre AC-130U Spooky Primary Function: Close air support, air interdiction and armed reconnaissance Contractor: Lockheed Aircraft Corp. Power Plant: Four Allison turboprop engines T56-A-15 Thrust: Each engine 4,910 horsepower Length: 97 feet, 9 inches (29.8 meters) Height: 38 feet, 6 inches (11.7 meters) Maximum Takeoff Weight: 155,000 pounds (69,750 kilograms) Wingspan: 132 feet, 7 inches (40.4 meters) Range: 1,500 statute miles (1,300 nautical miles) Unlimited with air refueling 2,200 nautical miles Unlimited with air refueling Ceiling: 25,000 feet (7,576 meters) 30,000 ft. Speed: 300 mph (Mach 0.40) (at sea level) Armament: two M61 20mm Vulcan cannons with 3,000 rounds one L60 40mm Bofors cannon with 256 rounds one M102 105mm howitzer with 100 rounds One 25mm GAU-12 Gatling gun (1,800 rounds per minute) one L60 40mm Bofors cannon (100 shots per minute) one M102 105mm cannon (6-10 rounds per minute) # Countermeasures AN/AAQ-24 Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM) # AN/AAR-44 infrared warning receiver # AN/AAR-47 missile warning system # AN/ALE-47 flare and chaff dispensing system # AN/ALQ-172 Electronic Countermeasure System # AN/ALQ-196 Jammer # AN/ALR-69 radar warning receiver # AN/APR-46A panoramic RF receiver # QRC-84-02 infrared countermeasures system Crew: 14 -- five officers (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, fire control officer, electronic warfare officer); nine enlisted (flight engineer, loadmaster, low-light TV operator, infrared detection set operator, five aerial gunners) 13 total. Five officers (pilot, copilot, navigator, fire control officer, electronic warfare officer); 8 enlisted (flight engineer, All Light Level TV operator, infrared- detection set operator, four airborne gunners, loadmaster) Unit Cost: $46.4 million (1992 dollars) $72 million Date Deployed: 1972 1995 Inventory: Active force, 8; Reserve, 0; ANG, 0 13 aircraft assigned to 16th Special Operation Wing's 4th Special Operations Squadron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 << This plane, depending on how it is armed could basically fly over a football field, open fire, and kill everything on the field...not missing a single target >> Theoretically maybe. In fact, if that was true I wouldn't be here. An effing USAF gunship opened up on us one night when we couldn't get some of the perimeter puff markers to light. We hugged the dirt in our slit trenches as Spooky went over us and we came through unscratched. Did shoot the sh*t out of our mess hall roof though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 They have improved it since then...The claim assumes it dumps it's load (all weapons firing) at once... http://www.metacafe.com/watch/200516/c130_hercules_landing_on_a_aircraft_carrier/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 How reassuring ... my confidence in the USAF is not all that great, based on experience. p.s. I saw the MIKE force the USAF had napalmed instead of the guys that were attacking them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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