He Likes U.S. Gunship, Needs More, Salvador General Says

Gen. Adolfo Blandon, chief of staff of El Salvador’s armed forces, expressed satisfaction Thursday with the performance of an American-supplied C-47 gunship but said his government needs more such planes, and others as well, to press its campaign against guerrilla forces.

Blandon said in an interview that he wants five more of the C-47s for his air force, plus nine Hughes 500 combat helicopters.

His desire for increased airborne firepower underscored what is regarded as an important weakness: the government’s apparent inability to stop guerrillas from carrying out effective, if infrequent, large-scale assaults.

The C-47, the first such gunship obtained by the Salvadorans, is a modified military version of the old twin-engine propeller-driven DC-3 cargo plane, equipped with three .50-caliber machine guns, each capable of firing about 500 rounds a minute.

The Hughes 500 is armed with a so-called mini-gun capable of firing 2,000 rounds a minute. The Salvadoran air force already has three, but only one is operational. The others have been grounded for repairs.

The C-47 gunship was tested in combat Monday and Tuesday near the San Vicente Volcano, 20 miles east of San Salvador.

“It’s a good plane,” Blandon said, “but we need more.”

He said the plane’s machine guns poured fire on the guerrillas, providing cover for an assault by helicopter-borne troops.

“When the troops landed, the terrorists were still there,” he said. “One plane is not enough.”

In another first, Blandon directed the battle from the air, keeping in contact with ground commanders, headquarters and the air force through a sophisticated U.S.-supplied radio in his helicopter.

Use of the gunship is likely to cause concern among human rights groups, as bombing has done in the past. Americas Watch, a human rights group based in New York, charged last year that the Salvadoran air force was indiscriminately bombing civilian targets.

President Jose Napoleon Duarte later ordered the air force to bomb only when a rebel target could be clearly identified, and then only on orders from the high command in San Salvador.

The same rules will apply to the gunship. But since rebels and their civilian supporters often travel together, it is considered likely that there will continue to be civilian casualties.

The Salvadoran air force has 35 UH-1H troop-carrying helicopters. Before the year is out, that number is expected to increase to nearly 50. In addition, the Salvadorans have six A-37 jet trainers equipped for ground attack.