The venerable C-130 Hercules air transport turned up almost everywhere
in the special-operations war in Afghanistan, with different versions
of it performing a variety of gritty functions. For example:
C-130s—with a design that dates back four decades—are
popular with the U.S. Special Operations Command, because “they
can fly low, slow and long distances,” said Peter Simmons,
a spokesman for the plane’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin
Aeronautics Company, of Marietta, Ga.
Unlike larger transports, such as the mammoth C-17s and C-5s, the
Hercules—named for the mythical Greek hero renowned for his
great strength—can land on unimproved dirt runways. In fact,
when the Marines seized an isolated airfield, which they called
Camp Rhino, the first fixed-wing aircraft to land there were C-130s.
The 16th Special Operations Wing of the Air Force Special Operations
Command, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Fla., used C-130s to ferry
special operators all over Afghanistan.
The aircraft’s design enables it to be configured for many
different special-operations missions, Simmons said. It can carry
troops, vehicles and armaments into battle. It can drop paratroopers
and supplies from the sky. It can refuel both airborne and ground
platforms. If necessary, it can be fitted with skis, instead of
wheels, for taking off and landing in heavy snow.
Much of the special-mission equipment can be quickly removed, allowing
the “Herk,” as it is nicknamed, to revert back to its
cargo-delivery role, if desired. Also, the C-130 can be reconfigured
rapidly to accept a wide range of cargo, including palletized equipment,
floor-loaded material, airdrop platforms, container-delivery system
bundles and combat vehicles, including the Army’s new interim
armored vehicle. The transport can accommodate 92 combat troops
or 64 fully equipped paratroops on side-facing seats. For medical
evacuations, it can carry up to 74 litter patients.
The Air Force first deployed the C-130 in 1955. The aircraft played
a key role in Vietnam, where the gunship version destroyed more
than 10,000 enemy trucks.
Marine Commandant Gen. James Jones credits one with saving his
life during the 1968 siege of Khe Sanh. At the time, he told a group
of defense reporters, he was commander of a rifle company that had
been assaulted by a North Vietnamese battalion. To fend them off
took “every firing battery we had ... and what we used to
call the Spooky gunship for most of the night.”
During the 100-hour ground campaign of Desert Storm, C-130s flew
more than 500 sorties a day. In the 1990s, C-130s transported indicted
war criminals from Bosnia to the International War Crimes Tribunal
for Yugoslavia in the Hague, Netherlands.
In Afghanistan, the AC-130 gunships were particularly deadly, officials
said. In the battle for the al Qaeda cave complex at Tora Bora,
Rumsfeld said, the gunships “fired [more than] 200 105 [mm]
howitzer rounds [and] thousands of lower caliber ordnance—the
25 mm and the 40 mm.”
In one case, Rumsfeld added, the gunships hit caves and tunnels
filled with ordnance. The strikes were so successful, he said, that
the smoke plume caused by the explosion covered more than two kilometers.
“The AC-130 gunship is a very precise weapon system, and
they have been effective,” Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters,
The AC-130’s sensor package includes television, infrared
and radar components, which allow the aircraft to identify targets
and friendly forces any time, any place, he said. Navigational devices
include inertial navigation and global positioning systems.
EC-130 Commando Solo aircraft produced two five-hour broadcasts
per day of news, music and information in the various languages
of the country. “We have no wish to hurt you, the innocent
people of Afghanistan,” said one broadcast. “Stay away
from military installations, government buildings, terrorist camps,
roads, factories or bridges.”
The EC-130s—flown by the 193rd Special Operations Wing of
the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, based in Harrisburg, Pa.—have
been converted from cargo planes to flying radio and television
stations. They can preempt an area’s regular programming and
replace it with any message chose by U.S. forces, a spokesman explained.
The messages are developed by the U.S. Army’s 4th Psychological
Operations Group (Airborne), which is headquartered at Fort Bragg,
N.C., and broadcast by a linguist, often live, in the language of
the target audience. Each Commando Solo is equipped with cassette
and reel-to-reel audio recorders, a video recorder, television monitors,
receivers, noise modulators, transmitters and a live microphone.
To help audiences find the broadcasts on their radios, U.S. forces
drop leaflets revealing the frequency being used.
In all, approximately 20 million leaflets have been dropped, noted
Rumsfeld. In addition to offering rewards for terrorist leaders,
the leaflets urge Afghans to “stop fighting for the Taliban
and live.”
The Herk’s record in the war was marred in January by the
crash of a KC-130 tanker, which killed seven Marines.
Overall, however, Pentagon officials are said to be pleased with
the C-130s performance in Afghanistan. The Air Force has been directed
to expand its fleet of gunships, and the Marine Corps is considering
acquiring some to bolster fire support for its expeditionary units.
The Pennsylvania National Guard is scheduled, early this year, to
receive the first of a new generation of Commando Solos—the
EC-130J—featuring more powerful engines, with increased fuel
efficiency, and advanced avionics.