USAF Fixed-Wing Gunships — The Lineage

Side-firing aircraft, 1964 to present · click a tile for photos and history

USAF Fixed-Wing Gunships
- FC-47 (interim designation)
- AC-47 Spooky
- Gunship III — C-119 family
  - AC-119G Shadow
  - AC-119K Stinger
- Gunship II — C-130 family
  - AC-130A Spectre
  - AC-130E
    - AC-130H Spectre
  - AC-130U Spooky II
  - AC-130W Stinger II
  - AC-130J Ghostrider

Chronology — Service Spans & Theaters

One lane per type · shaded bands mark major conflicts · click a bar to open that aircraft in the tree

Vietnam 1964–75 Grenada & Panama 1983–89 Gulf War 1990–91 Balkans 1992–95 Afghanistan & Iraq 2001–14

Photos: user-supplied official U.S. military imagery (DVIDS), stored locally; alt text describes aircraft type. AC-119 photo is shared across the G/K nodes and family node — dedicated variant imagery is scarce. AC-130H tile is nested under AC-130E because H-models were rebuilds of the E airframes.

Service-entry and retirement years per standard USAF gunship references; theater bands reflect major U.S. combat engagements. Narrative text assembled from the historical record and awaits expert review. This display is unofficial and not endorsed by the U.S. Air Force or Department of Defense.