There's One Place In The World Where AC-47 Spooky Gunships Still Fly

[Judi Lynn]

Veterans of the country’s counterinsurgency campaigns, the Colombian Air Force’s antique Fantasma gunships are still going strong.
BY THOMAS NEWDICK FEBRUARY 12, 2021



THOMAS NEWDICK View Thomas Newdick's Articles
@CombatAir

The AC-47 Spooky gunship, the forerunner of today’s AC-130s, which first went to war over Vietnam in the mid-1960s, is still in frontline service with just a single air arm. Based on the venerable World War II-era C-47 transport, the AC-47, which was dubbed “Puff the Magic Dragon” during its operations in Southeast Asia, survives now, albeit in a significantly upgraded form, only over the jungles of South America, in the hands of the Colombian Air Force. These aircraft, named Fantasmas, or ghosts in Spanish, still pack a punch, even though some of the airframes were originally built more than 60 years ago — indeed, one of them is even a veteran of the D-Day invasion.

The Colombian Air Force currently has around six AC-47T Fantasma gunships in its inventory, although not all of these are active at any one time. They are flown by a single unit, based at Palanquero Air Base in the heart of the country, although in the past they have also been deployed at other airfields depending on operational requirements. The upgraded AC-47T version was first introduced in 1994, replacing the original AC-47 that had been converted as a gunship from the mid-1980s.

Colombia’s Fantasmas entered service more than two decades after the U.S. Air Force’s very first AC-47 gunships arrived at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in what was then South Vietnam in late 1965. These aircraft were equipped with three rapid-firing 7.62mm Miniguns firing through windows along the port side of the cabin. Once there, these aircraft quickly began to prove out the fixed-wing gunship concept. Before long, the AC-47s were supplanted by more capable AC-130 and AC-119 gunships, which packed heavier armament, as well as improved sensors and defensive capabilities. Today, the U.S. Air Force continues to operate highly-modified AC-130W Stinger II and AC-130J Ghostrider gunships.

A handful of operators in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa continued to fly AC-47s in various configurations even after the type had been completely phased out of U.S. Air Force service. The last of these aircraft that remain active today is the Fantasma of the Colombian Air Force’s Escuadrón de Combate Táctico 113 — or 113th Tactical Combat Squadron.

More:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/39236/theres-one-place-in-the-world-where-ac-47-spooky-gunships-still-fly

[marble falls]

1. I'd have sworn some of the Puffs had a field piece in the door, too. But can't find any mention ...

... anywhere.

Then again, that Tiger weed was fairly bodacious.

[krispos42]

2. A variant of the AC-130 had a 105mm howitzer...

... As part of its armament.

I think the AC-47s just had the 3 Miniguns.

"Just". Like 18,000 rounds per minute is no big deal.

[marble falls]

3. I forgot the c-130's. That was a one armed platform. Thanks. Just read up on them.