Northrop Grumman has offered full streaming video with real-time imagery mark-up capability from ground observers as an option to its Litening AT Block II bid for the Royal Australian Air Force's replacement target pod competition.
The system would have a two-way datalink to create a network between the carriage aircraft and a ground observer, who would use a ruggedised laptop computer as a display terminal to assess imagery and mark areas of interest, enabling the same information to be displayed in the aircraft cockpit.
The capability is a development of the Litening ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) pod now in operation with US Marine Corps Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fighters deployed over Iraq. The current pod incorporates datalinks taken from the AAI/Israel Aircraft Industries Pioneer and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator unmanned air vehicles, but is restricted to the air-to-ground mode. Forward observers currently use VHF radios to communicate cueing instructions to the carriage aircraft's pilot.
Northrop says the mark-up capability will require a more capable link, with the US Army's standard tactical common datalink an option. Lockheed Martin says it is exploring a similar enhancement to the baseline Pantera pod on offer to Australia. Raytheon is contesting the requirement with its ASQ-228 ATFLIR pod.
Restricted tenders for the RAAF pod contest closed on 15 March, with a fast-track decision expected by the end of May. The air force wants to introduce the pod into operational service with its F/A-18A/B strike aircraft from mid-2007 for air-to-air and air-to-surface roles.
Source: Flight International
