U.S. SOCOM Tests AC-130J Ghostrider with AGM-190A Havoc Spear for 400-Mile Strike Missions.

U.S. Special Operations Command is preparing to test the AC-130J Ghostrider with the AGM-190A Havoc Spear small cruise missile and a new AESA radar, a combination that would transform the gunship from a close-range fire support platform into a long-range precision strike asset capable of engaging targets hundreds of nautical miles away. The effort, according to disclosures by SOCOM officials at SOF Week 2026 in Tampa, following AFSOC’s May 19 naming of the missile, signals a major shift toward stand-off strike operations in contested environments where traditional gunship orbits face growing air defense threats.

The integration pairs a long-range precision weapon with an organic targeting sensor, allowing the AC-130J to detect, track, and strike targets without relying entirely on external platforms for targeting data. Beyond adding a new munition, the program strengthens the aircraft’s role inside future joint kill chains by linking onboard sensors, mission systems, communications, and precision fires into a more survivable and flexible strike capability for modern special operations warfare.

Related topic: U.S. AC-130J Gunship Carries Hellfire Missiles and Precision Bombs in Counter-Trafficking Deployment.

U.S. Special Operations Command plans to test the AC-130J Ghostrider with the AGM-190A Havoc Spear Small Cruise Missile and an AESA radar, a combination that could give the gunship a 400-nautical-mile-class stand-off strike capability while improving target detection and engagement beyond traditional close-support ranges (Picture source: U.S. DoW).

The current AC-130J is a highly modified C-130J fitted with the Precision Strike Package, including a mission management console, robust communications, two electro-optical/infrared sensors, advanced fire-control equipment, precision-guided munition delivery equipment, and trainable 30mm and 105mm guns. The aircraft has a two-pilot flight station, four Rolls-Royce AE 2100D3 turboprops rated at 4,700 shaft horsepower each, a maximum takeoff weight of 164,000 pounds, a range of about 3,000 miles before air refueling, and an active-duty inventory listed at 37 aircraft by FY2024. Its crew is listed as two pilots, two combat systems officers, and four special mission aviators, which is central to why the aircraft can process targets and weapons employment more deliberately than a single-seat strike aircraft.

The Ghostrider’s existing armament is optimized for close air support, air interdiction, armed reconnaissance, convoy escort, troops-in-contact missions, and point defense. Its 30mm cannon provides rapid, accurate fire against personnel, light vehicles, and exposed weapons positions; the 105mm gun adds a heavier direct-fire option against structures, fighting positions, and area targets. Its stand-off munitions include the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, GBU-69 Small Glide Munition, AGM-114 Hellfire missile, and AGM-176 Griffin missile, giving the aircraft precision effects at ranges beyond cannon employment but still short of cruise-missile distances.

Those current weapons define the operational gap Havoc Spear is intended to address. The GBU-39 is a 250-pound-class GPS/INS weapon with more than 40 nautical miles of stand-off range; the GBU-69 is a 36-pound low-yield glide weapon with deployable wings, semi-active laser guidance, a two-way datalink, and a reported 20-plus-mile stand-off range; and the AGM-176 Griffin is a subsonic, 43-inch missile with GPS/INS and semi-active laser guidance, a blast-fragmentation warhead, and a range above 12 miles. These are useful weapons for permissive or partly permissive airspace, but they still require the AC-130J to remain close enough for enemy short-range air defenses, heavy weapons, or mobile surface-to-air missile teams to influence mission planning.

The AGM-190A changes that range equation. Leidos says the missile is a 200-pound-class, mission-adaptable weapon that demonstrated more than 400 nautical miles of stand-off range during C-130 testing, with modular hardware and open-system software intended to support later mission changes. In March 2025, Leidos said a guided flight test from an AC-130J, then under the Black Arrow name, demonstrated aircraft compatibility, system performance, waypoint uplinks, guidance accuracy, and integration with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Battle Management System under a CRADA involving Leidos, SOCOM, and AFSOC.

That test history matters because it shows the missile is not being treated only as an external store, but as part of a mission-system architecture. If the AC-130J can plan a route, pass waypoint changes, and receive or share targeting data through the same battle management environment used by the crew, Havoc Spear would allow the gunship to service fixed or relocatable targets without flying a classic circular orbit near the objective. Public information does not yet disclose the missile’s seeker, warhead size, speed, terminal guidance mode, or how many rounds an AC-130J could carry; therefore, claims about moving-target attack, hardened-target defeat, or salvo size should remain conditional until test data or budget documentation provides more detail.

The AESA radar is the enabling sensor for that change. SOCOM’s FY2027 budget material states that Precision Strike Package funding covers AESA radar procurement and installation, PSP software baseline updates, test and evaluation, contractor support, technical orders, spares, and support equipment. The same document identifies $58.856 million in FY2027 Precision Strike Package funding under the AC/MC-130J line, including one AESA radar at $8.5 million, one installation at $4.6 million, and $17.315 million for software and hardware baseline updates; the planned radar contractor is Northrop Grumman’s Linthicum, Maryland facility, with first delivery listed for January 2029.

SOCOM has not publicly confirmed the exact radar model, although previous discussion has centered on Northrop Grumman’s AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar. Northrop describes the APG-83 as an AESA radar derived from F-22 and F-35 radar technology and intended to improve threat detection, real-time targeting, survivability, and multi-mission effectiveness. If adapted to the AC-130J, the tactical value would be persistent radar search and mapping beyond electro-optical line-of-sight limits, including in weather, smoke, dust, haze, or darkness; this would help the crew maintain target custody before handing coordinates or updates to a long-range weapon.

Putting a 400-nautical-mile-class missile on the AC-130J would not make the aircraft a penetrating bomber, and it would not remove the need for offboard intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and air defense suppression in a dense threat environment. It would, however, create a different use case for a gunship that has been most effective when air superiority is already established. The aircraft could remain outside many local air defense envelopes, launch against command nodes, radar sites, missile launchers, logistics facilities, small maritime targets, or time-sensitive targets, and then continue supporting the joint force with communications, surveillance, and shorter-range weapons if the airspace permits.

The most important point is that Havoc Spear and AESA radar address the same problem from opposite ends of the kill chain. The missile extends reach; the radar improves organic detection and targeting; the PSP software work connects both to the crew’s fire-control process. If testing confirms the integration, the AC-130J would retain its close-support weapons while gaining a stand-off strike role better aligned with Indo-Pacific distances, Western Hemisphere maritime security missions, and special operations scenarios where persistence still matters but overhead gunship orbits are no longer a reasonable first assumption.

Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst.

Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.