VIETNAM OPERATION LINEBACKER
40 FLYPAST March 2018
VIETNAMVIETNAM OPERATION LINEBACKERAC-130
be really, really accurate and then you
left.”
Not only was the enemy courageous,
they were also inventive. “If you look
at the number of trucks we ‘killed’,
they had to be importing thousands
of trucks into North Vietnam - but
they weren’t. What they were doing
was rebuilding the trucks. It’s usable; it
may not be perfect but it’s usable. So, I
think they were clever.”
The AC-130E proved to be the
successful marriage of a proven
airframe with new technology to fit
a requirement not anticipated by the
standard acquisition process. The
close relationship between the weapon
system developers and the aircrews
flying the missions allowed new
sensors and weapons to be fitted in a
rapid manner based on feedback from
the operational environment.The AC-130E helped usher in the
improved avionics that characterised
Western air power in the late Cold
War era. On the AC-130E airframe
alone, integrated sensors synchronised
to find targets in the dark; fire control
computers directed pilots where to
point their guns, and laser target
designators to ‘paint’ targets were all
tested and perfected.
Although the number of trucks the
AC-130s destroyed remains debatable,
their overall impact on the war effort
cannot be discounted. Through their
interdiction efforts against the Ho
Chi Minh Trail and in supporting
ground forces, the Spectres provided a
major contribution to the war effort.
A relatively small ‘investment’ – 18
aircraft and a few hundred airmen—
made the gunships a truly special
force.bank of the flares on the LAU-74
[launcher] and set the flares’ timers
to zero so they would ignite as they
came out. If you left the timers like
the armourers would set them at for
illumination, they would be away
from the airplane and out of the SA-7
field of view [when they ignited].”
There were complications. “Of
course, when you landed, the
armourers had a bank of flares that
were set to go off as soon as you
pulled one out – and there was
nobody on the airplane by the time
they got there so occasionally we
would get nasty messages from the
weapons shop telling us not to do
that again.
“And of course, we were good crew
members, so we ignored it. We were
the ones that were going to get killed.”
For all the concern over missiles,
AAA remained the primary killer,
accounting for four of six AC-130
losses during the war.Successful marriage
With the passage of time, Batie
developed a respect for his North
Vietnamese adversaries. “They were
good. We shot at a lot of AAA sites
and it was not unusual to get into a
firefight with AAA until they got tobe really, really accurate and then you
left.”The AC-130E helped usher in the
improved avionics that characterisedAbove
A good indication of the
working conditions inside
an AC-130, as aircrew load
the 105mm howitzer.
KEY COLLECTIONRight
An AC-130A crew member
working the Low-Light
Level TV position. Note
the crosshairs on the
screen as he zeroes in on
the target. KEY COLLECTION