AC-130

The AC-130H Spectre is a gunship used by the United States Air Force in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
On the PC and consoles, the AC-130 only appears in the missions "Death From Above" and "Hunted". On the DS, it is in the level "Spectre". The gunship is armed with a 105mm cannon, with a very wide blast radius, but it must reload after each shot and has a long reload phase. It has the widest view in the Gunship, making it good for spotting ground targets. The 40mm Bofors auto-cannon creates small explosions and is fully automatic, though the firing rate is comparably slower to what some players consider "fully automatic". The 25mm Gatling gun is an automatic rapid-fire weapon with the highest zoom and least splash damage, making it very useful when friendlies and enemies are close to each other. The 40mm Bofors and 25mm Gatling gun has unlimited ammunition and does not reload like the 105mm cannon. This ability is lost in Modern Warfare 2.

Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish
An AC-130, callsign Spectre 6-4, was seen in Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish providing close air support for the Task Force 141. It is later shot down by an RPG-7.

Singleplayer
In campaign, there is one landed on the airfield in S.S.D.D., and briefly appears in the campaign mission Exodus. It can also be seen in the Spec Ops mission, Overwatch.

Multiplayer
The AC-130 returns as an obtainable killstreak in Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer. It takes eleven kills without dying to get the killstreak. It has three different mounted guns (105 mm, 40 mm and 20 mm) and lasts 40 seconds.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized
The AC-130 returns in Modern Warfare: Mobilized as one of the three usable vehicles, the others being the M1 Abrams and the Humvee. The AC-130 has also gotten an increase in damage for most weapons, as the 20mm Vulcan cannon is capable of taking out enemy T-72s, as well as an increase in bullet speed and rate of fire; the 105mm Howitzer is capable of taking out large buildings in around two shots. Unlike previous games, where the player could only fail by attacking friendlies and no-fire zones, the AC-130 can now be shot down by enemy anti-air vehicles, supposedly BM-21s.

The AC-130 is only used in the level "Clearing the Way", though seen giving the player air support in "Winter Assault" and guiding the player in "Last Chance". The main use of the AC-130 is not to protect allies, but to take out enemy vehicles (BM-21s, T-72s, Hinds), and destroy enemy structures.

Campaign
The AC-130 makes an appearance in the mission "Iron Lady" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's singleplayer campaign. It is seen giving support to friendly Delta Force soldiers. The imaging camera an be toggled for thermal as well as dynamically controlled for zoom.

Spec Ops
It also appears in the Survival Mode as a reward which can be bought for $2500. The player can throw a purple smoke marker on the ground and the AC-130 will fire upon that location.

The AC-130 also appears in some Special Ops missions, such as "Toxic Paradise". Like in Survival Mode, the player can throw down purple smoke to designate fire for the vehicle.

Multiplayer
It also returns in multiplayer, as a 12 Pointstreak in the Assault Package. The only changes are an ammo counter for each weapon as well as the ability to switch between Thermal and Enhanced Optics.

Videos
Video:Predator Missile vs AC130|Taking down an AC-130 with a Predator Missile. Video:Modern Warfare 2 - The AC130 In SSDD - HD|The AC-130 in SSDD. Note it is not a solid object.