The US Air Force is to integrate the Northrop Grumman AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening targeting and designation pod onto the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to demonstrate the capability, it was disclosed on 12 April.
A pre-solicitation notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website outlines the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Medium Altitude UAS Division’s intention to award a sole-source contract to GA-ASI to carry out the integration work. No further details related to the purpose of the work or project timelines was revealed.
As noted in IHS Jane’s C4ISR & Mission Systems: Air , the AN/AAQ-28(V) Litening is a family of airborne laser target designator pods developed by Israeli-company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Northrop Grumman. They offer precision strike and non-traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities in day/night/under the weather conditions for fighter and tactical strike aircraft via a staring forward looking infrared (FLIR); charge-coupled device (CCD) TV cameras; a laser designator; laser marker; laser spot tracker; and an Inertial Navigation Sensor (INS) on the stabilised gimbal.
In USAF service, the externally-mounted AN/AAQ-28(V)4 Litening Advanced Targeting (AT) pod is already integrated aboard a number of manned aircraft types, such as the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II; Boeing B-52H Stratofortress; Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle; and Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Photo: Seen fitted to a UK Tornado aircraft, the Litening pod – Source: Crown Copyright
Source: IHS Jane’s 360