Aerial gunnery training exercise at Camp Atterbury on Thursday
JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. (WIBC) — A military warplane will be used as part of an aerial gunnery training exercise at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center on Thursday. Camp Atterbury is operated by the Indiana National Guard.
“This is strictly TRAINING and will focus on the 105mm howitzer and the 30mm minigun,” said a Facebook post from Camp Atterbury earlier this month.
It will run between noon and 6 p.m. Camp Atterbury is located about four miles west of Edinburgh, but this training operation will be visible from several nearby counties.
The warplane that’s being utilized in this training is an AC-130J Ghostrider, which is a fifth-generation gunship.
“If you see this beast making 45° banks around Camp Atterbury on 28DEC2023 and unleashing controlled fury, do not be alarmed as it is YOUR service members honing their skills to protect our freedoms,” the Facebook post continued.
The AC-130 has an arsenal of side- and rear-mounted weapons such as cannons, miniguns, bombs, and missiles. Each AC-130J Ghostrider is valued at around $165 million.
The 30 mm cannon can fire up to 200 rounds per minute and each is about the size of a Coca-Cola bottle.