Tornado RAPTOR - how much of a capability gap?
UTC was proposing the "slimline" MS-110 pod back in 2015.
Litening 5 is no rubbish, however. Among other things it is intended to help targeting for Spice guided bombs (which use EO scene-matching guidance) beyond the range at which l@aser designation works, so it has bigger optics than the earlier versions as well as being fused/multispectral. So it may have been decided that the difference between L5 and MS-110 is not worth the cost of buying and supporting a whole new pod.
The current EOTS on the F-35 is not in the same class; the Advanced EOTS is not under contract as far as I know, and even if you have a fabulous sensor it helps to have a way to record its data and get it off the airplane.
Litening 5 is no rubbish, however. Among other things it is intended to help targeting for Spice guided bombs (which use EO scene-matching guidance) beyond the range at which l@aser designation works, so it has bigger optics than the earlier versions as well as being fused/multispectral. So it may have been decided that the difference between L5 and MS-110 is not worth the cost of buying and supporting a whole new pod.
The current EOTS on the F-35 is not in the same class; the Advanced EOTS is not under contract as far as I know, and even if you have a fabulous sensor it helps to have a way to record its data and get it off the airplane.
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I seem to remember reading that the RAPTOR pod won't fit on the centreline station due to clearance issues (u/c doors and/or ground, I forget now...) and can't be hung under wing because of asymmetric load conditions. I believe at one time there was talk of developing a pod specifically for Typhoon, but this seems to have come to nought...
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It came to naught (if that's what you're asking) because it wasn't considered enough of a priority to justify developing a new pod - acquiring the French pod may have been problematic in that it could have been felt to be a point of differentiation for the Rafale on export markets.
It was looked at, and my sources tell me that so was putting DB-110 or MS-110 on a Voyager or a Herc. That hasn't happened, unless someone else's sensor has been fitted (El-Op?).
It was looked at, and my sources tell me that so was putting DB-110 or MS-110 on a Voyager or a Herc. That hasn't happened, unless someone else's sensor has been fitted (El-Op?).
