For educational purposes
Benign aircraft has always proved useful for modification to the military.
During the Southeast Asian War, such benign cargo planes were modified into some of the most extraordinary and destructive weapon systems of all time.
The hastily improvised AC-47 "Spookies" roamed the night skies of South Vietnam, defending outposts against lethal enemy assaults with blazing fire from three side-mounted guns.
The success of these makeshift gunships led to the creation of more sophisticated airborne predators, such as the AC-130.
Benign aircraft has always proved useful for modification to the military.
During the Southeast Asian War, such benign cargo planes were modified into some of the most extraordinary and destructive weapon systems of all time.
The hastily improvised AC-47 "Spookies" roamed the night skies of South Vietnam, defending outposts against lethal enemy assaults with blazing fire from three side-mounted guns.
The success of these makeshift gunships led to the creation of more sophisticated airborne predators, such as the AC-130.
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LearningTranscript
00:00the fixed-wing gunship call name spooky during the vietnam war these benign cargo planes evolved
00:20into one of the most bizarre yet most destructive weapon systems of all time to meet the needs of
00:27unconventional warfare crude ac-47 dragon ships were transformed from a defender into a ruthless
00:35predator capable of annihilating enemy targets along the famed ho chi min trail with a devastating
00:42display of firepower with the escalation of the war soon emerged gunship two the enormous ac-130
00:56specter equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and the most powerful weaponry ever assembled on an
01:02aircraft these massive gunships stalked the enemy and stripped away their ability to covertly operate
01:09at night forever altering the nature of aerial attack
01:14so
01:18so
01:24so
01:26so
01:35throughout the early 1960s south vietnam was fighting a losing battle against communist insurgents
01:57and local guerrilla forces known as the vietcong to combat local collaboration with guerrillas
02:04the south vietnamese government relocated citizens in many rural areas to thousands of fortified strategic
02:10hamlets
02:20the government also created hundreds of special forces camps particularly near the country's borders with north
02:26vietnam laos and cambodia in an attempt to stem the rising tide of communist insurgency
02:32here u.s military advisors often trained and supported vietnamese troops in counter-guerrilla operations
02:45responding to the government's strategy the vietcong launched devastating attacks on strategic hamlets and special forces camps throughout the country
02:54to strengthen vietnam's ability to combat such attacks the u.s deployed a detachment of air commandos
03:07to vietnam in early 1963 under the code name farm gate the air commandos were sent to train the vietnamese
03:16in close air support and interdiction tactics however as vietcong attacks intensified
03:24farm gate crews were rapidly swept into an active combat role
03:35responding to desperate calls from besieged strategic hamlets and outposts the air commandos regularly drove
03:42off assaulting forces with lightly armed north american t-28 trojans and more heavily armed douglas b-26 invaders
03:53the situation improved but only temporarily as neither the vietnamese nor farm gate possessed an effective night strike capability
04:08realizing this the vc began to strike government installations almost
04:13solely at night dismal government losses quickly resumed
04:22to counter night attacks the air commandos began experimenting with flare support missions
04:28taking off at dusk douglas c-47 gooney birds and fairchild c123 providers roamed the skies over vietnam
04:41responding to calls for help banking into an orbit above an embattled outpost the crew dispensed a series of
04:49parachute flares exposing assaulting forces to defending troops
05:03forces in most cases the vc would break off their attack however the guerrillas quickly adapted to
05:13these tactics merely waiting for the flare ship to depart before resuming their assault and often
05:20overrunning the vulnerable compound building on the flare concept the air commandos initiated flare and strike missions
05:37after a series of flares had been dropped strike aircraft would lay down a hail of fire
05:43a barrage of rockets and even canisters of napalm on assaulting forces hundreds of outposts and thousands
05:50of lives were saved by these experimental tactics but with limited numbers of strike aircraft and flare ships
05:58thousands of potential targets and the fast pace of vc hit and run tactics a better solution had to be devised
06:06a number of concepts were considered but a strikingly simple concept led designers back to the versatile
06:18rugged world war ii vintage gooney bird if transport crews could illuminate assaulting forces while directing
06:25follow-on airstrikes why not arm transport so that the crew could strike on their own project tail chaser
06:33was born for the development and testing of gunship one the dreaded ac-47
06:44as the gunship made its way from concept to reality the situation in vietnam continued to deteriorate
06:53in response to u.s retaliation for the tonkin gulf incident
06:57the vietcong launched a series of attacks on allied installations
07:03bianhua airbase a large allied installation just north of saigon was among the worst hit
07:11a mortar attack killed four americans injured 72 and damaged or destroyed 27 aircraft it became
07:20painfully clear that the guerrilla attacks could reach anyone anywhere and that there were few defensive
07:26measures to deter them responding to a frantic search for weapons to combat vc assaults project tail
07:37chaser shifted into high gear guided by the determination and ingenuity of a few key men such as captain ron terry
07:46considered by many to be the father of the gunship two armed gooney birds were deployed to vietnam
07:52in december of 64. the planes were equipped with three 7.62 millimeter gatling guns also known as mini guns
08:02each gun could fire more than 100 rounds per second firing together they could put a bullet into every
08:08square foot of a football field-sized target in three seconds the guns were mounted in a door and two
08:17windows on the left side of the aircraft a third window contained a manually operated flare launcher
08:24eight men manned the ac47 with two gunners a flare kicker and a vietnamese observer added to the transport's
08:31original crew to fire on a target the pilot had to bank the gunship into a circular orbit or pylon turn
08:40to the left once the correct amount of bank was established the mini guns would stay aimed on a
08:46relatively fixed point of ground from here an intense and continuous barrage of fire could be laid down on
08:53enemy positions the pilot actually controlled the firing of the guns he acquired the target through the gun
09:04sight mounted by his left shoulder the gun sight was world war ii fighter gun sight it had a lighted ring
09:12and in the middle of that ring was a dot of light that we call the pipper if you put that dot of light
09:17on your target the gun line was bore sighted to that sight line and the guns would hit what had the dot of
09:26light on the co-pilot maintained the attitude of the aircrafts in that he was watching the instruments
09:32would not let you get out of control maintained your altitude and he maintained the airspeed with
09:37the throttles it was critical that the airplane stay in a perfect orbit in order to be able to hit
09:45in order to place the fire where we wanted it we had to maneuver the airplane
09:51we could rock the wings that would move the fire in and out and if you hit the rudders you could move
09:59the fire forward and back so we used a combination of rudders and aileron to control where we placed the
10:07fire to move it around early combat evaluation revealed that the new gunship was not only
10:18spectacular at stopping enemy assaults but also that it instilled a psychological fear out of proportion to
10:24its effectiveness from the very first mission no allied installation was ever overrun while a gun
10:36ship was overhead intelligence reports indicated devastating vietcong losses during raids broken up
10:43by ac-47 crews the vc were baffled initially guessing that strikes were coming from intense ground-based
10:54attacks or perhaps from a new type of gun the aircraft became legendary coming to be known as puff the
11:03magic dragon or simply as the dreaded dragon ship
11:11the name stemmed from the awesome tongues of flame and the whining roar that spewed from the guns as they
11:17fired the gunships boosted the morale of allied forces tremendously while completely terrorizing the enemy
11:26as a result plans were quickly initiated for a 16-plane ac-47 squadron to provide cover for allied facilities
11:34throughout vietnam
11:35as the gunship squadron began to take shape u.s involvement in vietnam escalated rapidly
11:49president lyndon johnson deployed the first large combat units to vietnam in the spring of 65
11:54the first marines landed at danang in march by the end of may 50 000 u.s troops were stationed throughout the country
12:10in july johnson authorized the deployment of up to 125 000 men
12:15as the number of ground forces increased so too did the need for close air support
12:30in november a newly created fourth air commando squadron was deployed to tan son nude airbase
12:36as a part of the hurried u.s attempt to shore up south vietnam's crumbling government
12:41equipped with 20 fully modified ac-47s the squadron's primary mission was to defend installations under
12:49night attack and to supplement strike aircraft in the defense of friendly forces in the field
12:57the dragon ships were officially assigned the call sign
13:01spooky a fitting reference to their ominous night missions and camouflage
13:05by the spring of 66 26 crews were combat qualified and spookies were strategically stationed throughout the country
13:19the first mission of the evening would take off at sundown
13:22and orbit a point in contact with a command center we had five locations for the uh ac-47 all
13:31over south vietnam and we kept an airplane airborne alert all night long and plus a ground alert airplane
13:39all night and the job was to protect special forces camps that came under attack by the vc
13:46when the word came in that a camp was under attack then we would get directed to that camp we had
13:52the camps all pinpointed on a map and our navigator would tell us how to get there
13:56in all cases before the pilot would fire at a target he was in contact with a with a special
14:04forces guy on the ground inside the camp or rent near the camp perimeter the guy on the ground would
14:11tell the pilots where they wanted him to hit where the concentration of the viet kong were
14:16and that's how the feedback came to all the crew they knew exactly when the attack stopped because
14:26the guy on the ground would keep telling them you got them running keep firing
14:35the versatility of the gunship led to various special assignments including support for search
14:41and rescue medevac forward air control and convoy escort a few spookies even performed armed
14:47reconnaissance missions against troops and supplies traveling down the ho chi min trail
14:52a mission that foreshadowed the evolution of future gunship operations
15:00however throughout 66 and 67 the most critical mission remained defense of allied installations
15:06on the last day of 1966 the small fourth air commando squadron successfully defended its 500th fort
15:17by the end of 67 the number of outposts defended soared to 1600 and still no camp had ever been overrun
15:26while spooky was overhead
15:31while the defense of outposts hamlets and allied bases became critical in preventing the collapse of
15:36south vietnam another mission evolved that was equally challenging and urgent close air support for
15:43troops in contact
15:48soon after the first marines arrived in the spring of 65 president johnson authorized u.s troops to be used
15:55not only in base defense and training but to join with the vietnamese in taking the fight to the enemy
16:01initially u.s forces conducted holding actions designed to retain those areas already under saigon's control
16:11from these areas a series of spoiling attacks were launched the objective was to search and destroy
16:17known vietcong strongholds rather than to seize and hold new territory the operations dramatically reshaped the
16:25intensity of the war u.s and vietnamese troops began to regularly engage vietcong elements in vicious firefights
16:35as a result spooky crews were increasingly called upon to come to the aid of troops in contact many of
16:42whom had become desperate after being pinned down by enemy fire when we were supporting troops in contact
16:50the young army soldiers were very nervous if they were new to the experience and the fire was getting
17:00very heavy from the vietcong they sometimes would call for us to fire on their position because they felt
17:07they were in imminent danger of being overrun when i first came into country i had an older pilot tell me
17:17that this was going to happen and when it did ask them how many casualties they'd taken and if they
17:25hadn't taken any casualties we didn't do that he said you tell them that when they start taking casualties
17:32you put the fire any place they want it identifying friendly positions was the most difficult and critical
17:40aspect of close air support firing around the perimeter of a fort or hamlet even at night was
17:47relatively simple installations were normally set in large clearings and had distinctive shapes
17:53anything outside of the perimeter was generally considered hostile crews supporting troops in the
18:00field faced far worse conditions friendly forces were often concealed by dense jungle foliage and rugged
18:06terrain others were engaged in violent street battles
18:10weather and darkness further complicated missions and to make matters worse crews had to avoid using
18:20flares for fear of exposing friendly positions to enemy troops well when we arrived over some troops
18:28that were just out in the jungle they give us as much about the geographic facts on the area as they could if
18:34they were close to a river or a mountain or something like that to help us orient ourselves to their position
18:43quite often they used a strobe light and if they used a strobe light then we could see the strobe and
18:49they could tell us how they were arranged around that strobe light so we could fire unfortunately by that
18:57time the north vietnamese had learned that and had captured strobe lights and they sometimes use the strobe
19:06lights to confuse us that was a problem that we had to be very concerned about because it could lead you
19:13to putting fire on friendly troops
19:18while support for troops in contact became a vital mission spooky's primary role remained the defense of
19:25static bases forts and villages that were being hit by increasingly deadly vc assaults
19:33in the fall of 67 the u.s activated a second gunship squadron
19:38and increased the dragon ship fleet from 22 to 33 aircraft
19:46ultimately commanders would have liked to have had a gunship on airborne alert
19:50over every base in south vietnam through the critical night hours
20:03by the start of 1968 there was an air of optimism in south vietnam u.s and vietnamese officials felt
20:10that vastly reinforced air ground and naval forces had turned the tide against the vietcong and the north
20:17vietnamese on january 30th these hopes were shattered when communist forces launched their tet offensive
20:28heavy fighting reached saigon
20:34the old vietnamese capital of hui was overrun and virtually destroyed
20:3936 of 45 provincial capitals and 50 hamlets were attacked
20:50the offensive ultimately ended in a large-scale military defeat for the vietnam
20:57but it was clear that the war was far from over
21:02spooky crews were stretched to the limit as they struggled to support allied forces throughout the country
21:09by july the number of outposts successfully defended which came to be known as the spooky count
21:18rose to more than 2300
21:22however this would be the peak year for u.s spooky operations shortly after his inauguration in january
21:30president richard nixon initiated a plan for the vietnamization of the war
21:34under the plan u.s forces would gradually withdraw while south vietnamese forces would be strengthened
21:44by 1969 both spooky squadrons were deactivated and all of the ac-47s were turned over to the vietnamese
21:52and royal laotian air forces despite the shift in policy u.s gunship operations in southeast asia
22:00continued to thrive and evolve in fact an entirely new class of gunship had already emerged and was
22:07striking at the very lifeline of north vietnam's war on the south the infamous ho chi min trail
22:13as early as 1964 the ho chi min trail had become a critical supply line for communist forces operating in south vietnam
22:35the trail was actually a vast network of old footpaths
22:39that ran some 1700 miles from north vietnam through laos and cambodia to the south
22:48as the war escalated north vietnam developed the trail
22:51into a complex road network that could handle convoys of large trucks
22:59the network became much more advanced than initially expected
23:03by 1967 there were hundreds of supply depots large truck parks for maintenance and repair
23:11medical facilities and even rest and relaxation areas
23:16to boost troop morale during the long arduous journey southward
23:24during the spring of 65 the u.s began launching airstrikes against a section of the trail in southern laos
23:32the strikes generally coincided with the dry season roughly from mid-october to mid-april
23:42throughout the rest of the year the roads in laos became nearly impassable and flying conditions
23:48extremely hazardous due to heavy rains most strikes were carried out by air force and navy jets
23:54which cut roadways and struck enemy positions with bombs rockets and strafing runs
24:03by mid-year more than 1 000 sorties per month were being flown against the trail
24:15each year the interdiction campaign expanded however a number of factors limited their overall effectiveness
24:21in the north vietnamese supply convoys began operating on the trail almost solely at night
24:29making it difficult to locate and strike enemy targets
24:35in addition the high speed and heavy fuel consumption of jets
24:39afforded pilots little time to discover targets in the rough jungle terrain
24:43and ironically heavy bombing along key routes pulverized the landscape actually making road
24:57development and repair easier for the enemy in many areas what the interdiction campaign needed
25:04was an aircraft that could loiter over infiltration routes for hours
25:08that could acquire targets under dense jungle foliage even at night and that could accurately deliver
25:16tremendous firepower on relatively small moving targets such an aircraft would be found in gunship
25:23two the ac-130 spectre from the inception of project tail chaser the u.s had been searching for a more
25:33effective follow-on aircraft to the ac-47 by 1967 the air force had narrowed down the replacement to
25:42either the 1950s vintage fairchild c-119 flying boxcar or the new lockheed c-130 hercules both aircraft
25:51were ultimately selected but it was the massive c-130 with vastly superior payload capacity and performance
25:58that was modified to become gunship too from the beginning major ron terry and others who were
26:06involved in the development of spooky intended to greatly increase the capability of this second
26:12generation gunship however no one anticipated that it would become the heavily armed highly sophisticated
26:21weapon system that it did in january of 1967 conversion of the first c-130 was initiated
26:31under project gunboat the prototype was armed with four mini guns one more than the spooky and four 20
26:39millimeter vulcan cannons the cannons were a potent addition to gunship firepower each vulcan could fire up to
26:472500 rounds of high explosive incendiary shells per minute a variety of equipment was also installed to
27:02improve the gunship's ability to acquire and strike targets at night included were a night observation
27:08device or starlight scope an early infrared sensor that translated heat emissions into a visible picture
27:17a powerful 20 kilowatt searchlight that could illuminate vast target areas
27:26and a crude computerized fire control system that integrated sensor inputs to provide target position
27:32and aircraft attitude for the pilot
27:38by june of 67 the ac-130 had entered flight trials where it was placed through extensive tests
27:44to ensure the accuracy of its potent weapon system
27:55fire from the new 20 millimeter cannons was devastatingly accurate striking a floating target
28:00grid 29 times in 30 passes while the air force was seeking a gunship to carry on spooky's role as a
28:08defender everyone involved quickly realized the specter's vast offensive potential the new sensors allowed crews to locate
28:18and lock on to target trucks from a phenomenal distance even in darkness
28:22a few bursts from the powerful vulcans demolish the trucks in a matter of seconds
28:36impressed by the dramatic test results the air force quickly deployed a prototype 130 to vietnam
28:56in the fall of 67
29:05the specter did continue the tradition of spooky initially flying its first mission in support of a firebase
29:12under assault
29:15within a month however the crew was released from ground support for its first armed reconnaissance mission in
29:21laos a truck hunting mission shortly after arriving over a portion of the trail a sensor operator spotted six trucks heading south
29:32after receiving clearance to fire the pilot banked into an attack orbit and unleashed a barrage of 20 millimeter fire on the hapless convoy
29:40within minutes all six trucks were burning i've got some more brewing and they were after where you are now
29:59the gunship's debut was both spectacular and chilling
30:03the air force wasted little time in developing additional ac-130s
30:14following the communist ted offensive in 68 there was a renewed sense of urgency about interdiction
30:24commanders and airmen alike recognized that such a massive assault could never have materialized
30:30if the flow of men and supplies from the north had been choked off each bullet that could be stopped on the trail
30:38represented one less possible fatality in the field
30:48in october four specters were deployed to ubon thailand with a newly created 16th special operations squadron
31:00by the end of the year the squadron was regularly patrolling the skies over laos
31:08ferreting out and destroying enemy trucks as they headed down the trail
31:14then
31:29spectre operations required a tremendous amount of technical know-how and teamwork
31:3411 crew members performed very specific functions, from flying the plane, to operating a sensor, to loading a gun.
31:51Each man's performance determined the success or failure, and ultimately even the safety or peril of the entire crew.
32:04Sensor operators led the pilot to a target.
32:08The fire control system integrated sensor information with the relative speed and position of the gunship,
32:14allowing the pilot to place the aircraft into an attack orbit.
32:21As a pilot, I couldn't see anything. I had no navigation instruments to operate with.
32:26We'd go to the sector and the sensor operators would search and find the targets.
32:32Once they found a target, the navigator would validate it with airborne man-controlled aircraft,
32:39because we did have friendly troops on the ground in Laos from special operations, special forces, and different other organizations.
32:48The pilot would turn and look out through a reflector gun sight.
32:53In there there were two symbols, a fixed symbol of light and one that moved.
32:59The fixed symbol represented where the guns were looking.
33:03The movable symbol represented where the sensors were looking.
33:07The trick was to get the movable symbol superimposed within the certain limits over the fixed symbol.
33:16And once you got this done, you had solved part of the problem.
33:21The rest of the problem was to maintain a 30 degree bank and also the altitude and the air speed.
33:29Any variation would cause the bullet to miss the target.
33:33Once you got that done, you told the engineer who was standing behind you and calling out your bank because you couldn't see that.
33:42He would arm the guns, the gunners would arm them, and I would mash a button on the yoke.
33:48And if all these other parameters had been met, bullets would go out and they would hit the target.
33:55We could hit the truck from two and a half miles away and do it consistently.
34:00And we killed a lot of trucks. We killed a lot of people, which was our job.
34:03And that's the name of the game in war, destroy the other guy or destroy his equipment.
34:07We did a good job of doing that.
34:10And that flare is big enough to blow all the trucks on the curve.
34:13In fact, it's a block that might come out now.
34:15Throughout 1969, the 16th Air Commando Squadron yielded phenomenal results on the trail.
34:27In January, still equipped with only four aircraft, Spectre crews accounted for 28% of all truck kills.
34:37In April, the squadron flew less than 4% of interdiction sorties, but accounted for more than 44% of the trucks destroyed or damaged.
34:50By the end of the year, three more Spectres were deployed to expand the hunt.
34:56That is a large explosion. Man, I'm telling you.
35:06Despite early success, conditions over the trail were becoming increasingly hostile.
35:13In 1968, President Johnson halted U.S. bombing operations over North Vietnam, allowing Communist forces time to regroup.
35:24From November of 68 through May of 70, North Vietnamese anti-aircraft defenses on the trail increased by more than 400%.
35:38More serious threats, such as telephone pole-sized SA-2 surface-to-air missiles began to appear in increasing numbers.
35:49In May of 69, the inevitable finally happened when two Spectres were struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire.
35:57The first landed safely, but one crewman was killed.
36:04The second burst into flames as it landed, killing two more crew members.
36:09By the summer of 1970, all remaining Spectres were withdrawn from combat for refurbishing.
36:20What emerged was a phenomenal weapon system that made initial Spectres look primitive in comparison.
36:29The surprise package AC-130.
36:49The most significant modification to the surprise package was the addition of two 40mm Bofors cannons,
36:58which replaced the aft pair of 20mm guns.
37:03New electronics included a low-light television system, a side-looking beacon-tracking radar to help identify friendly positions,
37:16a laser designator and rangefinder, and a new digital fire control computer.
37:26Returning to Thailand in December of 1970, surprise package AC-130 immediately resumed interdiction operations over the trail.
37:41Within a month, crews had shattered all previous interdiction records, destroying as many as 43 trucks in a single mission.
37:55The 40mm cannons dramatically increased the lethal power of the 130s, while allowing for even greater standoff attack altitudes.
38:05However, it is improved sensing equipment that ultimately had the biggest impact on interdiction operations.
38:14The sensor operator was actually the eyes of the gunship.
38:17We had a forward-looking infrared sensor, a flare.
38:20Everything gives off IR energy, and it comes up on your pictures, different shades of grey, depending on the amount of heat.
38:27The IR would acquire the target.
38:30He would have a big picture he could see up in front of the nose of the aircraft.
38:34And then the TV would slave to the IR, acquire the target, and then he would say he had the target,
38:41and that would be the sensor of choice to fire off of because it was more stable.
38:47We also have what we call Black Crow, and he was also the electronic warfare officer.
38:53The trucks over in Southeast Asia, the ignition systems, weren't shielded.
38:58So this sensor was designed to pick up the firing of the spark plugs.
39:03And it would appear on a scope, and he would actually acquire the truck driving down the trail, the engine running.
39:09And then the IR would pick it up next, and then the TV, and then we would roll in and fire on the target.
39:16The first radars were kind of washed out, fuzzy pictures.
39:21Then the later version gave you a nice, sharp picture.
39:25I mean, you could see trucks, you could see a guy running down the road.
39:29I mean, you could see his feet, the separation of his legs.
39:33We're at altitude, and we could see all this in darkness.
39:38There he is.
39:40Lower, lower.
39:42Holy shit.
39:44Beautiful.
39:45Yeah, brother, go.
39:51The battle for the trail continued to escalate.
39:54North Vietnamese determination was bolstered by the steady and unrestricted flow of trucks and supplies from the Soviet Union and China.
40:06Oh, we've got a couple of lights down here.
40:09From November of 1970 through June of 71, AC-130 crews damaged or destroyed more than 13,800 trucks.
40:194,000 in March alone.
40:25Frustrated by the success of interdiction efforts, the Communists often took drastic measures to ensure the continual flow of men and supplies.
40:35A lot of times when you were on the trail working and the truck drivers would hear the drone of the C-130, they would stop the truck and they would abandon the truck and you could actually see them running away from their trucks.
40:52And we would finish the truck off.
40:54So to stop that, they started chaining them to the steering column of the truck.
40:58And many of them was found, you know, burned to death, dead inside their vehicles along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
41:15As the flow of men and supplies built toward a massive North Vietnamese offensive in 1972, Spectre crews uncovered and struck increasingly impressive targets.
41:27Truck convoys carrying massive amounts of ammunition and fuel.
41:33Large truck parks containing dozens of vehicles.
41:39Ferries, sampans and other river traffic bearing tons of supplies.
41:43Beautiful.
41:44Beautiful.
41:45Yeah, that was, I could see that.
41:47Is that the boat?
41:48Roger.
41:49The boat.
41:50Roger, roger.
41:51And you should be able to see the buildings and stuff like that just for what makes the bend in the river there.
41:56While interdiction of enemy supply lines remained the focus of Spectre missions, the air crews never lost sight of the gunship's original role, defending friendly forces on the ground.
42:09When we were on the trail or if we were after trucks or tanks and a fire base or the ground forces needed our support, we'd be immediately broke off and sent to them in support.
42:21They had the priority for the airplane.
42:24Their lives were more important than a truck or a vehicle or something coming down the Ho Chi Minh trail.
42:38By the end of 1971, North Vietnamese defense of the trail threatened Spectre crews at every turn.
42:46Heavy anti-aircraft guns and missile emplacements lined key routes.
42:51With years of combat experience, enemy gunners had developed sophisticated and deadly tactics.
43:04Concerned about the increased threat, the U.S. searched for a new weapon to provide 130 crews with even greater standoff capability.
43:12In February of 1972, they found the perfect match.
43:19A heavy caliber gun that had been in use by American forces since the Second World War.
43:25The 105mm Howitzer.
43:27Replacing one of the 40mm cannons, these powerful guns could accurately deliver a 44-pound shell more than 12,000 meters, demolishing virtually any target in a single shot.
43:45While the increased standoff range did improve crew safety, anti-aircraft fire remained a formidable threat.
43:59Defense against enemy fire largely came down to the illuminator operator.
44:03His job, in addition to dispensing flares, was to lie on the Spectre's half-opened cargo ramp, scanning the terrain for anti-aircraft fire and missile launches.
44:17When the aircraft was threatened, the I.O. immediately called for violent evasive maneuvers or other countermeasures.
44:24In most cases, the gunship escaped.
44:28Sometimes, disaster was unavoidable.
44:31One night in 1972, we've been fragged into the Oshawa Valley.
44:41We just rolled into a firing orbit and a 37mm fired off about six rounds right off of our five o'clock position.
44:48And then mixed in with that anti-aircraft fire, here come a surface-to-air missile right straight for us.
44:53The missile kept locked onto us and coming. We fired a flare. It missed the flare. It kept coming right on.
45:01And the missile came right up past the tail. It came right in and exploded right in the number two engine.
45:07And the plane violently shook. And all of a sudden, within about ten seconds, there was a whirl of fire running down the side of the aircraft, past the tail,
45:16and probably at least a hundred foot, two hundred feet back into the air. And it was just a big roaring furnace.
45:24I pulled back off of the ramp and I instinctively reached and unhooked my harness that had me attached to the plane.
45:31I turned and I reached back and got my chute. And about that time, the plane was starting to roll over and down.
45:38And I said, I got to get out of the airplane. And I got right on the edge of the ramp and started pushing over with all of my might.
45:46I had my parachute in my hand. And all of a sudden, a loud explosion took place in the back of the airplane.
45:51And it shot me out through the back of the airplane. And all of a sudden, everything kind of went black.
45:57I was falling through the sky and the plane was away from me. And when my chute opened, it was just the breeze falling everywhere all around me.
46:05The plane was still headed towards the ground underneath me. And I seen it hit the ground and just scatter across, basically across the jungle floor.
46:12In all, six AC-130s were downed throughout the war, killing 52 airmen.
46:24While the Spectre had evolved into a phenomenal interdiction weapon, there was a problem.
46:29By 1967, ground commanders throughout Vietnam were desperate for more gunships.
46:38Allied offensives and widespread communist assaults were creating the need for more and better close air support.
46:46But new AC-130s were being diverted out of country for missions against the trail.
46:51The problem was finally addressed in the spring of 1969, with the arrival of the 71st Special Operations Squadron and gunship 3, the AC-119 Shadow.
47:07Converted from the lumbering old C-119 Flying Boxcar, the Shadow was designed for the critical close air support role, and was the true follow-on to Spooky.
47:21By December, the US had transferred all of its Spookys to the Vietnamese and Royal Laotian Air Forces, and the Shadow became the sole US gunship based in Vietnam.
47:35Although US involvement in the war had begun to diminish under President Nixon's plan for Vietnamization, fierce fighting continued to rage throughout the country.
47:51Outposts, hamlets, bases and cities were repeatedly assaulted.
47:56Allied forces regularly engaged the Viet Cong, and even larger and more heavily armed North Vietnamese battalions in bloody battles.
48:04Timely, accurate and overwhelming close air support remained the most effective defense against communist assaults.
48:12A mission for which the Shadow was well prepared.
48:16Equipped with four miniguns, one more than Spooky, a night observation site, a semi-automatic flare launcher, and a 20-kilowatt illuminator,
48:26Shadow crews could pinpoint enemy forces and deliver a lethal barrage of fire, even at night.
48:34A fire control system further enhanced weapon accuracy, and even included a safety display to prevent crews from firing on friendly positions.
48:44A second version of the Shadow, the AC-119 Stinger, was also deployed to Vietnam in late 1969.
48:59Armed with four miniguns, two 20mm cannons, a forward-looking infrared sensor, and various advanced radar systems, Stinger crews bolstered Spectre interdiction operations throughout Southeast Asia.
49:12However, because the 119s were somewhat underpowered, hard to maneuver, and vulnerable to enemy fire, their principal and most effective mission remained the mission that had started it all.
49:26Defense of friendly forces on the ground.
49:28The gunship was a very good assignment, because you were doing something that was saving lives. Quite often we would go out, troops in contact.
49:40These are, you know, 18, 20-year-old army sergeants out in the jungle. The jungle itself was hostile, even if there weren't any Viet Cong around.
49:53And when we would arrive, they'd be talking in a whisper that was almost impossible to hear.
49:59And after we'd been flying over, cover over them for 20 minutes or a half an hour, they'd be talking in a normal voice. And you could tell that they were going to get some sleep that night that they wouldn't have got if you hadn't been there, even if we didn't have any enemy to fire at.
50:20Throughout the Vietnam War, the gunship evolved from a crude defensive weapon into one of the most deadly and sophisticated airborne predators of all time.
50:32From repelling enemy assaults on forts and villages, to destroying supplies as they moved down the trail. The relatively small and unusual gunship force emerged as a premier defender of Allied forces, and indeed, of South Vietnam as a whole.
51:27You