US AC-130s, A-10s used against Gaddafi’s forces

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney confirmed that over the weekend, the US has used AC-130 gunships and A-10 Thunderbolt tankbusters against Moamar Gaddafi’s troops in Libya.

Though the use of ground attack helicopters was confirmed, the Pentagon however denied the US was directly supporting rebel fighters.

The US Air Force uses the AC-130 gunships for close air support, air interdiction, air missions, bombing raid, and force protection. Close air support roles include supporting ground troops, escorting convoys, and flying urban operations. Air interdiction missions are conducted against planned targets and targets of opportunity. Force protection missions include defending air bases and other facilities.

The A-10 Thunderbolt on the other hand, has excellent maneuverability at low air speeds and altitude, and is an highly accurate weapons-delivery platform. The aircraft can loiter near battle areas for extended periods of time and operate under 1,000-foot ceilings (303.3 meters) with 1.5-mile (2.4 kilometers) visibility. The wide combat radius and short takeoff and landing capability permit operations in and out of locations near front lines. Using night vision goggles, A-10 pilots can conduct their missions during darkness.

These actions are only in support of the UN-backed resolutions to protect Libyan civilians, Vice Admiral Gortney said.

“We’re not in direct support of the opposition, that’s not part of our mandate, and we’re not coordinating with the opposition.”

 

Source: ABC News, Aircraft information from wikipedia.org and USAF, photo from Google images

Japan’s HTV-2 to arrive from Space Station

HOUSTON — Japan’s HTV-2 cargo capsule departed the International Space Station on March 28, signaling a post-earthquake resumption of command and control over major ISS operations by flight controllers at the Tsukuba Space Center, northeast of Tokyo.

The trash-laden freighter, christened Kounotori, is scheduled to make a destructive plunge into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on March 29 at 11:09 p.m. EDT, concluding a 10-week mission for the second Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) automated cargo craft. The departing space freighter was filled with discarded packing materials protecting additional cargos launched aboard Discovery as well as other station trash. Japan’s HTV, the European Space Agency’s Automated Transfer Vehicle, Russia’s Progress and emerging U.S. commercial cargo craft will shoulder all of the responsibilities for station resupply once NASA’s shuttle is retired this summer.

The HTV-2 departed at 11:46 a.m. EDT, after astronauts Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli unberthed the 33-ft.-long capsule from the orbiting laboratory’s Harmony module, using the station’s robot arm.

Japanese control over the station’s Kibo laboratory and HTV-2 operations was lost when the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Space Station Integration and Promotion Center at Tsukuba and cut an undersea communications cable. Japanese personnel re-established temporary control of the facilities through NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston. JAXA resumed control on March 22.

The HTV-2 was launched from Tanegashima Space Center on Jan. 21 with nearly six tons of external and internal supplies, including research equipment and spare parts for thermal control and electrical systems.

The spacecraft was captured and berthed to the Harmony module of the station’s U.S. segment on Jan. 27 and later repositioned to provide clearance for the arrival of NASA’s shuttle Discovery.

 

-aviationweek.com