U.S. Sends 'Ghostrider' Gunship for Special Ops Drill

March 03, 2023 12:46

The U.S. has sent an AC-130J "Ghostrider" aircraft to South Korea for joint exercises. The plane is a heavily armed ground-attack variant of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

The two sides have been conducting a special ops training exercise dubbed "Teak Knife" for about a month to practices infiltrating North Korea in an emergency, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday.

The Lockheed AC-130J is equipped with precision-guided missiles, cannons and howitzers.

A U.S. AC-130J aircraft takes part in a joint special ops drill with South Korea on Feb. 27. /Yonhap

An older version was deployed here before, but this is the first time the upgraded AC-130J variant has taken part in joint exercises here in what is intended as a strong warning to North Korea.

The JCS in a rare move released videos of the exercise and said JCS Chairman Gen. Kim Seung-kyum visited the training site "to show the military's will to remain prepared for battle."

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