The AN/ASQ-213 HARM targeting system (HTS) is a

targeting pod 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 wit ...

mounted to either of the engine inlet hardpoints of an

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

aircraft. It enables the aircraft to track the location of hostile

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

systems in any weather, and identify them to allow for usage of the

AGM-88 HARM The AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments ...

missile or other air-to-ground weapons. It greatly assists in

Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD ), also known in the United States as " Wild Weasel" and (initially) "Iron Hand" operations, are military actions to suppress enemy surface-based air defenses, including surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), an ...

(SEAD) and Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses (DEAD) operations, where

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

(SAM) sites are directly attacked or threatened, and therefore suppressed, by aircraft carrying anti-radar missiles and other munitions. While the firing of anti-radar missiles (

) in Harm As Sensor (HAS) mode, an HTS pod greatly reduces the workload of the pilot, increases the precision of the HARM, and allows HARMs to be fired while pointed away from the SAM site being attacked when in Equation of Motion (EOM) mode. As an aircraft maneuvers closer to a SAM site and is scanned by the radar for longer periods, the quality of the HTS pod's report of the location of the SAM site increases. This is represented by the PGM (Position Quality) number. A single F-16 is capable of attaining a PGM5 track, the lowest quality track, up to PGM2. When combined with the F-16's

Link 16 Link 16 is a military tactical data link network used by NATO members and other nations, as allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO). Its specification is part of the family of Tactical Data Links. Link 16 enables military aircra ...

datalink system, a team of aircraft is capable of

Pseudo-range multilateration Pseudo-range multilateration, often simply multilateration (MLAT) when in context, is a technique for geopositioning, determining the position of an unknown point, such as a vehicle, based on measurement of biased ''time of flight, times of flig ...

to obtain the position of SAM systems with a high degree of accuracy, allowing for the highest quality track, PGM1. In combat, the pod displays the

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, bearing, and type of threats to the aircraft in relation to itself. During flight, the pilot may adjust the area scanned by the pod as well as the

frequencies Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

scanned to optimize threat detection and ranging.

Development

After the deactivation of the successful EF-4C Wild Weasel IV, the contract for the creation of the HTS pod was awarded to

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

(The defense business of which was sold to

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

in 1997 for $2.95 Billion USD). After the successes of the original design of the HTS pod, future upgraded variants featured vastly improved ranging speed and improved threat identification, as well as improving the frequency covered and the number of targets which could be tracked at once. In accordance with the

Joint Electronics Type Designation System The Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS), which was previously known as the Joint Army-Navy Nomenclature System (AN System. JAN) and the Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System, is a method developed by the U.S. War Depa ...

(JETDS), the "''AN/ASQ-213''" designation represents the 213th design of an Army-Navy airborne electronic device for special combination equipment. The JETDS system also now is used to name all

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

electronic systems.

References

External links

US Air Force HARM Targeting Pod Page (Archived)

US Air Force
Raytheon Company products Targeting pods Military electronics of the United States Equipment of the United States Air Force {{Electronics-stub

Development

References

See Also

External links