#49, AC-130 Gunship: A 105mm Howitzer on a Plane
The AC-130 Gunship is the most lethal close air support platform ever created, a C-130 Hercules transport modified to carry a 105mm howitzer, a 40mm Bofors cannon, and a 25mm Gatling gun, all firing from the left side of the aircraft as it orbits in a continuous banking turn. When an AC-130 arrives overhead, everything within its target area is destroyed with surgical precision. Special operations forces consider the AC-130 their most valuable air asset, and the sound of its weapons firing is the last thing many enemy fighters have ever heard.
AC-130 gunships have flown combat in every American conflict since Vietnam, where early models devastated the Ho Chi Minh Trail. In the 1989 Panama invasion, an AC-130H destroyed Panamanian Defense Force headquarters. In Mogadishu in 1993, during the Black Hawk Down incident, AC-130s provided critical fire support. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the gunship's ability to put precision fire exactly where ground troops need it, sometimes within meters of friendly positions, has saved countless lives. The AC-130J Ghostrider, the latest variant, adds GPS-guided munitions and advanced sensors while keeping the howitzer. No other military aircraft in aviation history combines firepower, precision, and loiter time like the AC-130, making it the perfect aircraft to close out a ranking of the greatest military machines ever to take flight.
