Key takeaways
- Wikipedia defines a gunship as a military aircraft armed with heavy guns or autocannons, intended mainly as a loitering base of fire against ground targets.
- The word began in the mid-19th century as a synonym for gunboat; today it usually means a fixed-wing aircraft with side-mounted guns that circles its target.
- In 1943 the US tested the YB-40, a B-17 converted into a 16-gun escort gunship; it was so much heavier that it struggled to keep up with the bombers it protected.
- The AC-47 'Spooky', converted in 1964 during the Vietnam War, was the first notable modern gunship, and the larger AC-130 followed.
- Armed helicopters are often called helicopter gunships.
"Gunship" turns up in game titles, including one of ours, but it has a precise meaning in military aviation, and a history that stretches from 19th-century warships to Vietnam. This guide explains what a gunship is and how the idea developed, drawing on Wikipedia's articles on gunships, the Boeing YB-40 and the Douglas AC-47.
What the word gunship means
Wikipedia defines a gunship as a military aircraft armed with heavy guns or autocannons, primarily intended to serve as a loitering base of fire for direct-fire attacks on ground targets, either as an airstrike or as close air support for friendly land forces.
The word is older than aircraft. It originated in the mid-19th century as a synonym for gunboat, and could also describe the heavily armed ironclad steamships used for blockades during the American Civil War.
Why gunships fire sideways
In modern usage, Wikipedia explains, a gunship usually means a fixed-wing aircraft with side-mounted heavy guns, typically on one side only, firing out of the fuselage like the broadside battery of a sailing warship. The guns are aimed at the apex of an imaginary cone formed by the aircraft's flight path and the ground during a pylon turn, a steady banking turn. The result is the defining tactic: unlike attack aircraft and dive bombers, which make strafing runs towards a target, a gunship circles it and keeps firing.
World War II: the escort experiment
The word was used in World War II, whose origins the causes of World War II traces, for a different idea. In 1942 and 1943, Wikipedia records, the US Army Air Forces in Europe lacked a long-range escort fighter, so it experimented with bombers converted to protect other bombers. The Boeing YB-40 was a B-17 Flying Fortress fitted with extra turrets and twin guns, up to 16 machine guns in all, with the bomb bay turned into an ammunition magazine. These "flying destroyer gunships" were meant to fly with the bomber formations over occupied Europe.
The experiment showed why speed matters. The YB-40's gross weight was about 4,000 lb more than a fully armed B-17. A worked comparison: the B-17F it was based on was rated to climb to 20,000 feet in 25 minutes, about 800 feet a minute; the YB-40 took 48 minutes, about 417 feet a minute, roughly half the climb rate. In level flight it struggled to keep up with standard Flying Fortresses, especially after they had dropped their bombs and become lighter.
The record was modest: of 59 aircraft dispatched in 1943, 48 sorties were credited, with five confirmed and two probable German fighter kills claimed and one YB-40 lost, on 22 June. The Luftwaffe's fighter chief, Adolf Galland, called its victories "insignificant". The project failed as an operational aircraft, but its remotely operated chin turret went on to the later B-17G.
Other World War II aircraft carried the name for their firepower. Wikipedia notes heavily armed gunship versions of the B-25 Mitchell, including 405 B-25Gs with a 75 mm cannon for use against shipping in the Pacific, and a B-25J variant with eighteen .50-calibre machine guns, more than any other contemporary American aircraft.
Vietnam: the modern gunship
The side-firing gunship arrived during the Vietnam War. Wikipedia names the Douglas AC-47 Spooky as the first notable modern gunship: in 1964, the US Air Force modified the C-47 Skytrain transport with three side-firing miniguns for circling attacks. At the time it was known as "Dragonship", "Puff, the Magic Dragon" or "Spooky". The twin-engine AC-119 followed, and then the larger Lockheed AC-130, which Wikipedia describes as the modern origin of the term in military aviation. Wikipedia also notes that these aircraft were vulnerable, and were meant to operate only after air superiority had been achieved.
| Aircraft | Era | Idea |
|---|---|---|
| Boeing YB-40 | 1943 | A bomber converted into an escort with extra guns |
| B-25G and B-25J Mitchell | World War II | Heavily armed attack versions of a bomber |
| Douglas AC-47 Spooky | 1964 onwards | A transport with side-firing guns, circling its target |
| Lockheed AC-130 | Vietnam War onwards | A larger, more heavily armed side-firing gunship |
Helicopter gunships
The term also covers rotorcraft. Wikipedia notes that helicopter gunship commonly describes armed helicopters, which can make similar loitering attacks with door guns, while modern attack helicopters typically use missiles, rockets and chain guns.
Gunships in games
Arcade games borrow the name for its sense of firepower rather than its history. World War Gunship Attack, one of our action and arcade games, is an arcade shooter with a world-war setting and styling; its page here is clear that it is entertainment, not a flight simulator or a historical recreation. The game guide explains how it plays.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
What is a gunship aircraft?
Why do gunships fire from the side?
Were there gunships in World War II?
What was the first modern gunship?
Sources
- Gunship (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
- Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
- Douglas AC-47 Spooky (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
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