An AC-130U Spooky gunship at Hurlburt Field, Fla., is now armed with the 30 mm Bushmaster cannon. The new gun replaces the elderly 40 mm cannon and the newer 25 mm cannon, both of which are hard to maintain. The 25 mm also lacks air burst capability. The Bushmaster cannon fires 200 rounds a minute, faster than the 40 mm and a little slower than the 25 mm gun but with less scatter. Air Force Special Operations Command will flight test the new 30 mm-armed AC-130U through May, turning it over to the 4th Special Operations Squadron in July. AFSOC plans to upgrade three more Spooky gunships by December 2007, and—depending on funding—the rest of the fleet would receive the new cannon by Fiscal 2010.
Multiple U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters have deployed to the strategic outpost of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to protect the myriad of assets deployed there, including strategic bombers.