Originally Posted by
falcon900
Doesnt seem like the sort of material to be discussing in an open forum.
If we were talking about tactics when using RAPTOR, or the exact performance parametrics of the DB-110 sensor, or any performance limitations imposed by carriage, then you'd have a point.
But the retirement of the pod, without replacement, is not militarily sensitive. Indeed, if some of those I've spoken to are correct it's not even an issue, since the capabilities it offers are either unnecessary, unwanted, or are already offered (or will soon be offered) by other systems.
And if they are wrong, and if RAPTOR represents something that will be missed, then it's only politically sensitive - since someone has made the wrong decision, or has failed to fund an adequate replacement.
In their excellent book "Beyond Horizons", published by UTC Aerospace Systems to celebrate 10,000 Raptor Flying Hours, Chris Pocock and Andy Jeffrey devoted a chapter to UTC's latest derivatives of the DB110 pod - including Multi-spectral and AESA TacSAR radar pods, including the FJP2 - a multi-spectral MS110 repackaged in a Typhoon centreline tank. The same pod could apparently include the SAR radar for GMTI.