Commanders consider advantages of TARS pod for intelligence after success in Iraq
US Air Force battlefield commanders are rethinking the service's growing reliance on unmanned air vehicles and space-based sensors for real-time intelligence. Equipping more manned, fast-jet fighters with tactical reconnaissance pods is a potential solution.
Interest was stirred by the results of a three-month deployment of 10 Air National Guard (ANG)Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 30 fighters to Iraq earlier this year, one of only two units equipped with the BAE Systems Theatre Airborne Reconnaissance System (TARS). Also in service with the Egyptian air force, the TARS pod houses an electro-optical sensor suite.
The ANG has confirmed senior USAF officials are considering a major expansion of the TARS programme, currently limited to a purchase of 20 pods for two of the guard's F-16 units. The service is also working to integrate a data link for imagery and a synthetic-aperture radar.
Five of the ANG officers involved in the recent deployment met USAF chief of staff Gen John Jumper last week. Shortly afterwards, Lt Col Glenn Schmidt, the squadron commander, said "we're right in the middle" of the decision-making process to expand the TARS programme.
Field commanders in Iraq liked the ability of ANG F-16s to "quickly react and employ ordnance" immediately, in contrast to UAVs, says Schmidt. Another source notes that F-16s can respond within minutes to any threat within 80km (45nm), whereas a General Atomics MQ-1 Predator UAV can take more than 30min to cover the same distance.
In Iraq, Schmidt's squadron normally flew sorties in two-ship formations, with both fighters carrying a full load of munitions, including strafing rounds. One aircraft would fly with a Northrop Grumman Litening AT targeting pod, with the other carrying a TARS pod. The squadron was tasked with both close air-support (CAS) and reconnaissance missions, the latter a capability recently associated with more persistent, but slower, UAVs.
In the CAS strike role, the fighter with the Litening pod would normally locate the target, hand off the co-ordinates to the wingman, hold the laser spot on the target, then videotape the impact.
The aircraft which dropped the weapon, equipped with TARS, would circle back after the strike and capture a still image for later use in battle damage assessment.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
