Three companies will bid for a US Air Force programme which they expect to determine the dominant targeting pod supplier in coming years.
Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon plan to respond to the Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) request for proposals, due to be released in late October.
Although the USAF initially is seeking fewer than 170 pods to equip Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 50s, the ATP is expected eventually to replace almost 600 LANTIRN targeting systems carried by Block 40 F-16s and Boeing F-15Es. The ATP is to be smaller, lighter, cheaper and easier to maintain than LANTIRN.
The ATP requirement calls for an off-the-shelf pod, and flight demonstrations of the competing systems are planned for November. Contract award is expected in March next year, and initial operational capability in late 2002.
Lockheed Martin will propose its privately developed Sniper pod, offered for export as the Pantera. Northrop Grumman will offer the Litening III, an improved version of the Litening II pod co-produced with Israel's Rafael. Raytheon will bid the Terminator, under development as the US Navy's Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infra-Red (ATFLIR) pod.
All three pods feature a "third-generation" mid-wave FLIR, daylight television sensor, laser spot tracker and laser designator with no altitude restrictions and an eye-safe training mode. The so-called "40k" laser allows target designation from altitudes above 40,000ft (12,200m), increasing survivability.
The USAF has yet to decide whether the ATP should include a longer-range, higher-resolution sensor known as a laser wavelength camera, to provide target identification in air combat. All three bidders plan to demonstrate the capability in flight tests later this year under the air force's Laser Vision research project.
Source: Flight International
