Marines’ Instant Gunship Blasts Taliban, Pentagon Bureaucracy
* By David Axe Email Author
* November 30, 2010 |
* 11:41 am |
At first glance, the Marine Corps’ hottest new weapon looks just like a standard cargo plane. For the “Harvest Hawk” gunship, the external differences are subtle. A sensor pod jutting from one of the under-wing fuel tanks of the KC-130J aircraft. A rack under the left wing for four Hellfire missiles. A clutch of 10 smaller Griffin missiles fixed to the ramp. With these $10-million add-ons, plus extra training for the crew, any similar plane in the Marine Corps inventory becomes a cheaper version of the Air Force’s powerful, custom-made AC-130 gunship.