PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Lockheed Martin pod has been selected by US air force for its F-15s and F-16s
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control is looking to consolidate its success in winning the US Air Force's Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) competition with the Sniper XR. It is stepping up marketing efforts for the Pantera export version, with the possibility of offering the system as an alternative to the France/UK Joint Airborne Navigation and Attack (JOANNA) technology demonstration programme.
The ATP contract is potentially worth up to $843 million if the air force exercises its full requirement for 522 pods and associated equipment for its Boeing F-15s and Lockheed Martin F-16s.
Lockheed Martin Sniper XR programme manager Dan Fischoff says there is potential for at least twice that if the international market is included. The company claims several countries have expressed interest in Pantera after the USAF's selection over the Raytheon ATP version of Terminator and Northrop Grumman's ATS/Litening III.
The company has already looked at offering the system on the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab/BAE System Gripen and claims to also be "talking to Boeing" about theF/A-18. The recent award of a $28 million JOANNA demonstration contract to BAE Systems and Thales Optronique has also caught Lockheed Martin's attention. "We do not rule out looking at that as an option," says Fischoff.
The USAF's Air Combat Command(ACC) has determined that ATP initially be a non-development item, but there is understood to be a preplanned product improvement scheme to add technology as it becomes available, including an automatic combat identification capability.
Sniper XR/Pantera has a high degree of commonality with the Hawkeye targeting sight system in the final stages of development for the Bell AH-1Z attack helicopter and planned internal Electro Optical Targeting System for Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter proposal.
The ACC plans to initially acquire 168 pods from early 2003 to equip its F-16CJ Block 50s and Air National Guard F-16 Block 30s, with follow-on for F-16 Block 40s andF-15Es. The USAF will need 150 more pods if it also chooses to equip the Fairchild OA/A-10 with Sniper XR instead of an upgraded LANTIRN.
Source: Flight International
