Gunships are troops' guardians in the sky

The AC-130 gunship went into action against Taliban forces in Afghanistan for the first time today, marking intensification of the assault on the regime’s bases and leadership.

The aircraft has a combat history dating back to Vietnam and has seen action in places including Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia and Bosnia.

Its primary missions are close air support and protection of troops on the ground.

The gunships are heavily armed and have sideways firing weapons which can saturate an area over extended periods, including at night and in adverse weather.

They also have sensors which allow the gunship to differentiate between friendly ground forces and its targets.

In Vietnam, gunships destroyed more than 10,000 trucks and were credited with many life saving close air support missions.

During Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada in 1983, they suppressed enemy air defence systems and attacked ground forces, enabling the successful assault of the Point Salines airfield via drops of airborne forces.

The gunships also had a primary role during Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989, when they destroyed Panamanian defence force headquarters and numerous command and control facilities.

During Operation Desert Storm, in the Gulf, they provided close air support and protection for ground forces.

They were also used during operations Continue Hope and United Shield in Somalia, providing close air support for United Nations ground forces.

The aircraft played a pivotal role in supporting the Nato mission in Bosnia, and in 1997 were diverted from Italy to provide combat air support for US and allied ground troops during the evacuation of American non-combatants in Albania.

Gunships were also part of the build-up of US forces in 1998 to convince Iraq to comply with UN weapons inspections.

The gunships are the AC-130H, which has the call sign "Spectre", and the AC-130U, with the call sign "Spooky".

The U-model employs the latest technologies and can attack two targets simultaneously. It also has twice the munitions capacity of the H-model.