<p >Newly released footage has confirmed the testing of the Black Arrow cruise missile from a U.S. Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider gunship, with the missile’s manufacturer Leidos confirming the test five months after it took place in November. The test marks a major milestone in efforts to adapt more aircraft in the Air Force’s fleet to be able to launch cruise missile and drone attacks, which has gained growing importance due to <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=us+fightr+fleet+too+small&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8" target="_blank">major shortfalls</a> in the sizes of the fighter and bomber fleets. The integration of the Black Arrow, also known as the Small Cruise Missile, onto the AC-130J was achieved by mounting Ramp Launch Tubes on the rear ramp of the aircraft, which release the missiles tail-first, after which its single-piece pop-out wing deploys. It is expected that such launch systems will be integrated not only onto the fleet of AC-130 gunships, but also onto much more widely used transport aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules, allowing them to complete missions usually assigned to fighters or bombers from relatively safe distances. While the relatively limited range of the Black Arrow at approximately 300 kilometres still leaves aircraft <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-combat-tests-s400-400km-pairing-a50" target="_blank">well within the ranges</a> of many more advanced air defence systems, fighters and interceptors, the the missile’s development is expected to pave the way to the integration of much longer ranged munitions that can be deployed by aircraft like the AC-130.</p>
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