This is an interesting development in my opinion. The Marines love the AC-130 so much, they are developing a package for their own KC-130s to arm it up for Afghanistan, but according to one spokesman, it is really about ISR.
Conway said the Marines “have lusted for years” over the AC-130’s capability but could not afford the sophisticated Air Force gunships. Instead, they are taking advantage of their KC-130J transport-tankers in a program called “Harvest Hawk,” he said. It consists of a “roll-on, roll-off package” that can be installed in hours and gives the KC-130s the ability to fire a 30mm rapid-fire gun and Hellfire missiles in support of ground forces, Conway said. “I think you’re going to see one in [Afghanistan] before the end of the calendar year.”
A Marine spokesman said later that “this is not intended to be a gunship” but a response to an urgent need of Marines in Afghanistan who want persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. “The ISR is the priority, but we also want the capability to use some weapons against targets we can see,” the spokesman said.
That last paragraph is a bit timid for the Marine Corps. Only in the Marines does one stick a 30mm on a plane and call it ISR. The article goes on to discuss another platform they would like to arm up for sending fires down range.
The commandant said he has an agreement with Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, to examine use of a “box of rockets” that could be installed on an LCS to provide fire support for Marines ashore. It could replace the capabilities the Marines expected from the Advanced Gun System developed for the DDG-1000 destroyer, whose production is being stopped at three ships.
LCS is designed to accept a variety of “mission packages,” which include weapons, sensors, controls and operators that enable a ship to perform a variety of combat assignments. A Marine fire-support package was not one of the three original missions developed for LCS but has been discussed recently.
Is it even possible for a “box of rockets” to replace the capabilities of the Advanced Gun System? If so, that is either one really impressive “box of rockets” or one overrated Advanced Gun System. Somehow, I don’t think any solution developed for the LCS is going to come anywhere near to the range and capability of the Advanced Gun System, although I do like the idea of an offshore MLRS system on the Littoral Combat Ship.
