Lockheed Martin, ORLANDO, FL.: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $2.8 million follow-on contract by the Boeing Company to support full Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) functionality on the U.S. Air Force B-1B aircraft. Integration activities began in June 2007.
This contract follows on the heels of highly successful B-1B Sniper demonstration flights in January 2007 involving live weapon drops. Sniper ATP’s low drag, extended range performance and high reliability make it exceptionally well-tailored for the B-1B.
The addition of Sniper on the B-1B will broaden the range of options to Warfighters and not only fulfill traditional missions, but also meet the demands of non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for coalition forces. Additionally, Sniper ATP provides the B-1B with a real-time bomb damage assessment capability.
“Sniper’s ease of integration will enable the U.S. Air Force to expediently field this enabling capability on the B-1 to meet the challenges of current ongoing operations,” said Ken Fuhr, Sniper program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Sniper will contribute to the bomber’s ability to assist the Warfighter in achieving mission success.”
Sniper ATP’s exceptional stability and superior imagery permit aircrews to positively identify and extract weapon quality coordinates from outside many threat ranges. For urban combat and training, a dual-mode laser permits both eye-safe laser use and enhanced Laser Guided Bomb guidance. For target sharing, a laser spot tracker, laser marker and video downlink enable highly improved joint and coalition ground force coordination.
Sniper pods are currently flying on the F-15E, F-16 blocks 30/40/50, A-10C, A-10A+, F/A-18 and GR9 Harrier platform configurations. Its common software/hardware interface design enables the U.S. Air Force to “plug and play” Sniper across multiple platforms providing maximum flexibility and capability across the force.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.
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