Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The World's Deadliest Conventional Weapons

A Lockheed Martin AC-130H Hercules gunship aircraft from the 16th Special Operations Squadron out of Hurlburt Field, Fla., released jettisons flares as an infrared countermeasure during multi-gunship formation egress training Courtesy USAF (Photo from Flight Global)

From FOX News:

The five deadliest conventional weapons in the world are all part of the U.S. Armed Forces' arsenal, though many are used by other countries as well.

Some date back to World War II in concept, but they are still lethal and continue to be used in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The fearsome five:

The AC-130 aerial gunship: This comes in two forms, the AC-130H "Spectre" and the more heavily armed AC-130U "Spooky," both flown by the U.S. Air Force. Versions of the AC-130 were first deployed during the Vietnam War.

It's designed to hit targets on the ground or at sea, firing Gatling guns and howitzers fore, aft and to the side. The AC-130's weakness is that it flies "low and slow," making it vulnerable to surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles.

Read more ....

My Comment: I would also add UAVs and other robotic weapon systems.

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