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Further Reading

AC-119 Shadow / Stinger

In South Vietnam, the airplane once again entered combat, this time in a ground support role as AC-119 "gunships" mounting side-firing weapons capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds per minute per gun. The Air Force enhanced its close air support (CAS) capability during the Vietnam War by converting C-47, C-119, and C-130 transports into heavily armed AC-47, AC-119, and AC-130 ground-support aircraft. The Special Air Warfare Center's 1st Combat Applications Group accomplished literally thousands of projects between 1962 and 1972. These ranged from testing the prototype VC-123 transport under field conditions to designing an efficient dispenser for sterile screwworm flies. The 1st CAG developed low-light television equipment for night strikes and reconnaissance, as well as cargo extraction systems. It also tested the AC-47, AC-119, and AC-130 gunship platforms.

A full two years before the final AC-47 Spooky mission in December 1969, the Air Force had already narrowed the replacement for the old C-47s to either the 1950s-vintage, twin-engined C-119 Flying Boxcar, or the newer, four-engined C-130A Hercules. While the advantages of the latter over the former were clear to all involved, the cost of diverting scarce C-130 resources for gunship duty would severely penalize the already overtaxed airlift forces. The ready availability of C-119s in Air Force Reserve units finally decided the issue in favor of the Boxcars, at least as an interim measure until sufficient AC-130s could be brought on line. The next step proved far more controversial.

In 1967, Fairchild converted 52 C-119G aircraft into gunships for use in South Vietnam with one-half being AC-119G Shadows and the other 26 AC-119K Stingers. Both ground support aircraft had four 7.62 mm miniguns and, in addition, the Stinger received two 20 mm rotary cannons. Overriding strong Air Force concerns in June 1967, Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown, citing modification costs and deployment delays, chose to go with the G model as the AC-47 replacement. Later, in February 1968, he relented somewhat by approving a mixed C-119G/K fleet, with 16 of each type in two squadrons and an additional 10 of each type to absorb attrition losses.

While Gunship II, based on the C-130A, took shape, Secretary Brown persisted in his plan to convert the older and slower C-119 into a gunship. The question of modifying the Fairchild transport for this purpose first surfaced in June 1967, at about the time the Gunship II was undergoing its initial testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. General Momyer, then in command of the Seventh Air Force, immediately objected to the introduction into Southeast Asia of yet an another aircraft, like the different variants of the C-47, that he considered obsolete. Acquisition of the elderly C-119, he believed, would further complicate the already difficult problems of maintenance and logistics that his organization faced. At the time, Secretary Brown insisted on the development of an AC-119, for he opposed the diversion of additional C-130s from transport duty, a position he clung to until Gunship II demonstrated its worth in Southeast Asia.

Prior to the successful combat test of the AC-130A, he intended to use the C-119G, powered by two piston engines, as the basis for a gunship to replace the AC-47, even though the lumbering AC-119G, like the earlier gunship, could not to survive over defended portions of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. To attack the logistics complex, he proposed a faster, higher-flying gunship, based on the C-119K, which had two auxiliary jet engines mounted in pods beneath the wing to improve performance. As a result of Secretary Brown's views, a mixed force of gunships took shape. The AC-119G Shadow replaced the AC-47, which was earmarked for the South Vietnamese air arm, and the AC-119K Stinger joined the AC-130 Spectre in attacking road traffic through southern Laos.

The addition of a K squadron did little to alleviate Air Force apprehension over the all-piston G model. In mid-1968, even the gunship-hungry Seventh Air Force in Saigon openly questioned whether the G should even be allowed into combat. If the G models could wangle an invitation to the party, they'd at least come "well dressed." In addition to carrying one more minigun than the three carried aboard the AC-47s, the Flying Boxcars carried much improved avionics to include target-acquisition radars, a fire control system, and a night observation device (NOD), which magnified starlight and moonlight several thousand times to provide a surprisingly clear, if still green, picture of the terrain below. The NOD's biggest drawback was that the tracer rounds fired by the gunship's miniguns provided so much more light that they effectively shut the NOD system down. As a result, flares became the primary means of identifying ground targets. Carrying 31,500 rounds of ammunition and 24 flares, it was more than capable of hurting anything it caught in its sights.

The AC-119G gunship, a modified G-model, carried four 7.62mm miniguns firing from the left side of the aircraft. Equipped with a 20-kilowatt illuminator, aluminum ceramic armor in crew and cargo areas, a semi-automatic flare-launching system, form in the fuel tanks for fire suppression, and new communications equipment, this was a weapons system to be respected. In the now classic gunship tactic, the AC-119G flew a continuous left orbit to keep the guns and sensors on the target. Fighter aircraft made passes and after each pass had to reacquire the target with lost time on target which the gunship tactic avoided.

Catchy gunship call signs were selected to provide unit cohesiveness and esprit de corps. The AC-47 gunships and their people were Spooky. To that end, the AC-119G people adopted the name Shadow and the follow-on AC-119K force became Stingers. The two AC-119 models had two completely different missions. The Shadows provided troops in contact and airbase defense. Their business card advertised their mission with a measure of humor, such as "When Uninvited Guests Drop In . Call for 'THE SHADOW.'" We Provide: Lightning for All Occasions.," "We Defend: Special Forces Camps, Air Bases, Outposts, Troops in Contact," and "Who Knows What Evil Lurks Below the Jungle Canopy? THE SHADOW KNOWS!" The Stingers were devoted to the truck hunting mission especially on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. With their 20mm weapons in addition to their 7.62mm guns, they could very effectively destroy most trucks used by the North Vietnamese. By the end of 1969, the 14th Special Operations Wing had 16 G-model and 12 K-model gunships operating from five different air bases throughout Vietnam. And by this time, the Shadow and Stinger crews were already well into establishing their formidable reputation throughout Southeast Asia. From the arrival of the K models, the two squadrons began dividing into separate missions, a reflection of their different sensors and armament. The crews of the G models had already learned the range limitations of their 7.62 mm minigun ammunition when firing against trucks from an altitude that kept the AC-119s beyond the reach of the enemy small-arms fire. Experiences led the G models to specialize in defense of isolated outposts in South Vietnam, while the stronger Ks with their 20 mm cannon focused on the increasingly important truck-killing mission.