30mm cannon on US plane at Shannon

The controversial weapon on a US military plane that passed through Shannon Airport last month in breach of landing conditions, appears to have been a powerful, side-mounted 30mm cannon.

Earlier this week, Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore confirmed that a US military plane carrying a “fixed weapon” landed at Shannon in contravention of conditions for such landings in Ireland.

It’s now known that an AC-130W Hercules turbo-prop aircraft, attached to the United States Air Force (USAF) 73rd Special Operations Squadron (SOS), landed at Shannon on Sept 5 and departed again the following day.