On Wednesday, October 30, 2024, the American company Lockheed Martin announced that it had signed a 90.68 million USD (364.33 million PLN) contract with the U.S. Department of Defense for the production of AN/AAQ-33 Sniper ATP (Advanced Targeting Pod) electro-optical targeting pods with bidirectional data links, system support, and spare parts for the light combat aircraft F/A-50 Fighting Eagle. The final number of pods will be determined by the Ministry of National Defense.
Photos: Lockheed Martin
On May 9, 2023, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the U.S. Department of State had approved the potential sale to Poland of a batch of 34 AN/AAQ-33 Sniper ATP pods, along with transport containers, for up to 124.7 million USD (518.31 million PLN at that time).
On August 18 of the same year, the Armament Agency announced on social media that it had signed a contract worth approximately 105 million USD (431.73 million PLN at that time) with the U.S. government for the delivery of 34 pods.
The pods will enhance the FA-50 aircraft’s capabilities to identify, track, and engage targets from a long distance, as well as perform reconnaissance and surveillance missions.
Currently, Sniper XR ATP pods are in service on Poland’s F-16C/D Jastrząb multirole aircraft, along with Goodrich DB-110 imagery reconnaissance pods (seven units with two ground stations). As part of the planned Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) to the Viper standard, equivalent to the F-16C/D Block 70, the Polish F-16s are expected to receive dual-band MS-110 MARS reconnaissance pods.
According to Lockheed Martin, if the Polish government shows interest, the Sniper pods on both F-16 and FA-50 aircraft could potentially be upgraded in the future to the Sniper Networked Targeting Pod standard, a project announced by Lockheed Martin in July of this year. With enhanced data link and radio communication technologies, the upgraded Sniper pods would provide unprecedented interoperability for 4th and 5th generation aircraft with multi-launch rocket systems such as the M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System).
In addition to Sniper pods, Polish aircraft in the FA-50PL (Block 20) configuration will be equipped with the PhantomStrike AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar from the American corporation RTX, and their pilots will use Scorpion HMD helmet-mounted displays from the French company Thales.
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