SOFIC 2016: USAF wants laser gunships
US Air Force Special Operations Command is looking for industry assistance in integrating lasers on AC-130 series gunships.
Speaking at SOFIC in Tampa, Florida, Lt Gen Bradley Heithold, Cdr of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), said that they need industry help on the ‘new gun’ they are discussing for the AC-130J.
‘That “gun” has got to be a high energy laser,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t have to go on 37 [aircraft] but it will go on a handful of airframes.’
He asked for industry to show how best to integrate a high energy laser on the AC-130J by the
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