The Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard has deployed a Northrop Grumman-built advanced targeting pod capable of providing F-16 aircraft pilots with full-color digital video for situational awareness and targeting accuracy.
The company said Tuesday the Litening pod features a modular design that allows users to update the pod into the new full-color configuration.
The update also provides an automatic laser code display and allows for simultaneous video recording from multiple sensors.
“The Litening pod can display up to three different views simultaneously, allowing operators to see color and infrared video side by side and in different fields of view," said James Conroy, vice president for navigation, targeting and survivability at Northrop.
Users may also activate the updated Litening's eye-safe mode to use the pod in realistic training scenarios.
The targeting pod has undergone modenization for over four generations to meet military requirements for new capabilities. To date, it has over three million operational flight hours.