I’m honestly not convinced this was even an oversight. It’s a pretty legit flex, tbh: “We’re gonna explosively dismantle your stuff with an orbiting heavy gunship and there ain’t shit you can do about it. But you can watch us do it in real time on flightaware, so enjoy that!”
A C-130 isn’t exactly stealthy at the best of times, they’re, big, loud, and presumably have a massive radar return. They’re also flying in visual conditions at reasonably low level, so can be easily seen.
They probably decided colliding with another aircraft was a bigger hazard.
Not to mention they fly at altitudes that make it far more likely that you hear your little clay bunker next door get fragged before you hear the gunship. The zoom on those guns make them essentially crew-served howitzer sniper rifles.
I’m honestly not convinced this was even an oversight. It’s a pretty legit flex, tbh: “We’re gonna explosively dismantle your stuff with an orbiting heavy gunship and there ain’t shit you can do about it. But you can watch us do it in real time on flightaware, so enjoy that!”
A C-130 isn’t exactly stealthy at the best of times, they’re, big, loud, and presumably have a massive radar return. They’re also flying in visual conditions at reasonably low level, so can be easily seen.
They probably decided colliding with another aircraft was a bigger hazard.
H models are pretty loud with those thicc prop blades but Js are surprisingly quiet in flight
Not to mention they fly at altitudes that make it far more likely that you hear your little clay bunker next door get fragged before you hear the gunship. The zoom on those guns make them essentially crew-served howitzer sniper rifles.
Doom noodle
I showed this picture to my 10yo. He immediately guessed ”AC killing terrorists?” due to the flight pattern.
You raisin him right. Much respect