Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa) is planning to develop a family of reconnaissance pods to enhance the capabilities of the Panavia Tornado.
The pods will be based on the mechanical structure of Dasa's current German air force Tornado reconnaissance pod, now being flight tested. Further developments will start with an electronic intelligence (ELINT) pod, then a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) pod for all-weather imaging capability and, finally, a "telephoto" pod similar to the current one, but with a longer-range optical sensor.
According to Dasa vice-president of support programmes, Rüdiger Sanitz, work is also being carried out on a demonstrator pod to test technology for future reconnaissance-pod applications.
Dasa's military-aircraft division will be prime contractor and systems integrator for all the planned pod developments. The company is now completing equipment recommendations for the ELINT variant, which will be handed to the defence ministry for a decision.
Equipment proposals have come from TRW of the USA and Thomson-CSF of France, and the recommendations are shortly to be submitted to the ministry.
No firm in-service date has been set for the ELINT pod, as this will be dependent on the tight German defence budget, which is still under threat of further cuts. Sanitz says, however, that he believes that the air force needs the ELINT capability "as soon as possible" for its role in NATO's rapid-reaction forces.
Feasibility studies are being carried out on the SAR pod, with various radar suppliers under consideration - including Dasa's defence-electronics division, Thomson-CSF, GEC-Marconi and US manufacturers. Sanitz says that the telephoto pod will have priority over this variant.
Dasa is prime contractor for the reconnaissance pod under development. The equipment includes Zeiss cameras, a Honeywell management unit, power supply and scanner receiver unit, and an Ampex digital tape recorder.
Source: Flight International
