Here’s why The lessons passed on to crews trained since that fateful day are the true legacy of Spirit 03. While the Spectre gunships were retired in 2015, subsequent AC-130 models such as the Spooky, Stinger II, and Ghostrider continue to apply the same lessons learned after Spirit 03 went down. No enemy has downed an Air Force AC-130 gunship in 30 years. That loss carried its own lessons-learned, and over the past 30 years not a single AC-130 has gone down in combat, even through thousands of combat hours during the Global War on Terror. Eight crew members died immediately, and a ninth died of his injuries years later. Three years later, in 1994, a Spectre with the 16th Special Operations Squadron crashed off the coast of Kenya when a high-explosive round detonated prematurely in the bore of the aircraft’s cannon. Unfortunately, Spirit 03 was not the last AC-130 crash. The aircraft is primarily intended for close air support and aerial interdiction missions. It is a modified variant of the MC-130W Dragon Spear aircraft. (Air Force photo / Senior Airman Meagan Schutter) AC-130W Stinger II is a multi-mission gunship developed by Lockheed Martin for the US Air Force (USAF). The AC-130H Spectre will be displayed at the north end of the Air Park. More than 40 personnel with eight base organizations were on site during the tow process. Airmen with the 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron move a tree to avoid contact with the tail of an AC-130H Spectre on Hurlburt Field, Fla., Aug.
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