Navy wraps up review of air-to-ground targeting systems deployed on fighter jets.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Upfront

A review of three air-to-ground targeting systems designed for Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps fighter jets is expected to leave current programs intact, sources said.

The Navy's top acquisition official, Assistant Secretary John Young, convened an independent panel of experts earlier this year to review the systems, which help aviators pinpoint targets on the ground at night and in adverse weather.

The three pods in the review included the Navy's advanced targeting forward-looking infrared (ATFLIR), the Air Force Sniper and the Marine Corps' Litening.

All three systems represent the latest generation of this technology, which employs high-magnification infrared sensors and optics packaged on stabilized mounts and installed on military jet fighters.

The services collectively could spend up to $5 billion in the next five to 10 years on targeting pods, prompting Pentagon officials to question why the Defense Department could not consolidate the programs and possibly save money.

This is not the first rime a senior review panel is charged to study targeting pods. The Defense Science Board probed the issue more than four years ago and concluded that the Air Force and the Navy should pursue separate programs for an advanced targeting pod.

The Defense Department originally considered combining both programs. The Navy launched the ATFLIR program in 1997, and awarded a contract to the Raytheon Company. The system now is in low-rate production. The Air Force, meanwhile, launched a separate program in 2001, called Advanced Targeting Pod, and selected the Sniper, made by Lockheed Martin Corp.

The Marines and the Air National Guard, meanwhile, chose the Litening pod, made by a team of Northrop Grumman and Rafael.

A member of the DSB study group told National Defense in 2001 that the most significant reason why the Pentagon should not consolidate the Navy and the Air Force programs was the cost associated with canceling the ATFLIR, if the Air Force decided that it did not meet its requirements.

Although the ATFLIR and the Sniper share much of the same technology, the primary difference is the cooling system. The Navy pod gets cooling from the platform aircraft, the F/A-18. The Air Force pods require an on-board environmental...