The program was managed by a Program Office at Wright-Patt. Its high cost ($850M+), lack of a clear and distinct military mission, and an apathetic (at best) presidential administration led to its cancellation 4 years later without a single vehicle completed. In its various permutations, it could serve as a boost-glide vehicle in a suborbital trajectory, a space access vehicle like a miniature space shuttle, a military orbital bomber, a satellite inspection platform, or a hypersonic R&D vehicle.

This was to be a piloted, winged glider boosted to space on top of a Titan rocket. The Air Force chose a team of Boeing and Vought as the prime con-tractor for Weapon Systems 464L, aka Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring). In 1968, Gun-ship III first replaced the AC-47s with the AC-119G, then the AC-119K upgraded with add-on jet engines and additional cannon for use against trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The program started under AFLCMC’s predecessor the Aeronautical Systems Division at WPAFB with Gunship I, the famous AC-47 “Spooky,” followed by Gunship II, the AC-130 that was the predecessor for the modern fleet of gunships.

It was the product of Project Gunship III, the third iteration propeller-driven cargo aircraft equipped with cannons and machine guns as a ground support/attack platform.

Tactical Air Command received its first Fairchild AC-119K “Stinger” gun-ship. In this edition of Heritage Hangar, you'll learn about old and new airplanes and tidbits of what happened this week many years ago. By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office

Bombing gunship iii