After a year in combat the Marine Corps is officially looking at beefing up the capability of its KC-130 Harvest Hawk gunships by adding a 30 mm Gatling gun to the Hercules-based gunships. The Corps' small fleet of Harvest Hawks currently carry four Hellfire antitank missiles on the outer wing hardpoints and ten GPS-guided Griffin missiles launched from the aft cargo ramp. It also carries a AN/AAQ-30 Targeting Sight System mounted on the left external fuel tank to provide overwatch to troops on the ground and target the weapons.
The Marines are apparently looking at bolting the cannon to the cargo floor and having it fire out the Herk's paratroop door. If this comes to fruition, it will be interesting to see how the KC-130s compare to Air Force Special Operations Command's dedicated AC-130 gunships.
More at National Defense.
