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Targeting Pods
Targeting pods (TGP) are target designation tools used by attack aircraft for identifying targets and guiding precision-guided munition (PGM) such as laser-guided bombs to those targets. The first targeting pods were developed in conjunction with the earliest generation of PGMs in the mid-1960s. Categories Laser designators The design of laser-guided bombs requires a "laser spot tracker" that locates reflected pulsed laser light from a designated target. This enables an aircraft's targeting system to home in on that specific target. The simplest spot trackers, such as the Pave Penny pod, have no laser at all, just a laser sensor. Some targeting systems incorporate a laser rangefinder, a laser beam that can calculate the precise range to a target and communicate that information to the nav/attack system. Many targeting pods or installations use the same sensor as the laser spot tracker to receive the reflected rangefinder signal, so they can perform both ranging and trackin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NAVFLIR DAMOCLES P1220870
Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal imaging cameras, use detection of infrared radiation, typically emitted from a heat source (thermal radiation), to create an image assembled for video output. They can be used to help pilots and drivers steer their vehicles at night and in fog, or to detect warm objects against a cooler background. The wavelength of infrared that thermal imaging cameras detect is 3 to 12 μm and differs significantly from that of night vision, which operates in the visible light and near-infrared ranges (0.4 to 1.0 μm). Design Infrared light falls into two basic ranges: ''long-wave'' and ''medium-wave''. Long-wave infrared (LWIR) cameras, sometimes called "far-infrared", operate at 8 to 12 μm and can see heat sources, such as hot eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR
The AN/ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) is a multi-sensor, electro-optical targeting pod incorporating thermographic camera, low-light television camera, target laser rangefinder/laser designator, and laser spot tracker developed and manufactured by Raytheon. It is used to provide navigation and targeting for military aircraft in adverse weather and using precision-guided munitions such as laser-guided bombs. It is intended to replace the earlier AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk pod in US Navy service. ATFLIR is long, weighs , and has a slant range of , said to be useful at altitude of up to . It has fewer parts than many previous systems, which is intended to improve serviceability (although early examples, in service with VFA-115 'Eagles' in 2003 experienced problems). Crews indicate that it offers much greater target resolution and image accuracy than previous systems. ATFLIR presently is used by the US Navy on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
F-15E LANTIRN Pod
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. Intended for the Dual-Role Fighter (DRF) program (initially called Enhanced Tactical Fighter), the F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relying on escort or electronic-warfare aircraft. United States Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagles can be generally distinguished from other US Eagle variants by darker aircraft camouflage, conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) and LANTIRN pods mounted behind the engine intake ramps (although CFTs can also be mounted on earlier F-15 variants) and a tandem-seat cockpit. Initially designed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, the F-15E first flew in 1986 and production continued under Boeing following the companies' merger in 1997. The aircraft became the USAF's primary strike fighter/interdictor starting near the end of the Cold War, gradually replacing the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
