The US Marine Corps’ newest attack aircraft, its armed KC-130J tanker/airlift aircraft, is reportedly flying sorties over Afghanistan:

The [KC-130] is the first of three airplanes with San Diego-based Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 to be fitted with the Harvest Hawk kit. The kit, designed as a roll-on/roll-off weapon system, includes a pod attached to the left wing that can carry four Hellfire missiles, a rear-ramp launcher for 10 Griffin precision-guided missiles and a fire-control console the aircrew uses to track and hit targets. Aircrews can even share live video with ground units. Officials would also like to add a 30mm cannon to the mix.

The Air Force currently has a small quantity of AC-130s, which primarily use permanently mounted side-firing cannons for close air support.  There are very few AC-130s while the demand for their services is high, making them one of the highest tempo airframes in the Air Force.  Perhaps the Marines’ innovation will not only improve their “self-sufficiency,” as the Marines like to do, but also lighten the load on Air Force assets.