The
first two of eight AC-130H Spectre gunships destined for the new Air Force Special Operations Command force at Cannon AFB, N.M., arrived last week. The remaining aircraft are slated to arrive later this summer, according to the Cannon photo release. The AC-130 gunships are part of the 16th Special Operations Squadron that is shifting from Hurlburt Field, Fla., to Cannon, where it will operate under the 27th Special Operations Wing. AFSOC took over operations at Cannon, setting up its long-sought western hub, in October 2007. The command expects to move about 600 personnel from Hurlburt to Cannon to establish the 16th SOS at the New Mexico facility.
A new Air Force plan for how many fighters it needs in the next decade marks a sharp upturn from what it thought it needed just seven years ago. But analysts worry that the aspirational plan now in Congress' hands doesn’t make a tight enough connection to national strategy.
