The period of Northrop Grumman LITENING AT system’s contract with royal Australian air force (RAAF) is extended for another four years. The LITENING AT system can be used as target designation unit of RAAF for F/A-18 Hornet aircraft (HTDS).
The value of this contract extension is approximately $8 million and is made to ensure in-service support for the targeting pods and data connections till the end of September 2015.
The LITENING AT unit is a self-contained weapon-targeting system with multi-sensors, which helps the fighter pilots to precisely deliver both the precision-guided and conventional weapons towards the identified, tracked and designated targets. The LITENING AT system is completely integrated to support both the air-to-ground and air-to-air engagements and also featured with advance image processing technology for coordinate generation for GPS weapons. The Northrop Grumman’s system is also integrated with a forward-looking infrared sensor having 640 x 512 pixels for its effective functioning at day and night times, dual bandwidth infrared laser highlighter, eye-safe laser range identifier, CCD television sensor of 1,024 x 1,024 pixels, laser spot tracking device, and an air-to-ground digital video data recording unit.
The company has delivered over 550 LITENING pods till date and continues to prove its combat capabilities and inbuilt flexibility for adapting to the required operational changes. The Northrop Grumman’s LITENING AT system is incorporated in various aircrafts such as A-10A/C, AV-8B, EA-6Bs, F/A-18, B-52H, F-16 and F-15E. In addition to its operation with the RAAF, the LITENING AT system is functioning with the Air National Guard, US Marine Corps, Israeli Air Force, US Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, Finnish Air Force, Portuguese Air Force, Royal Netherlands Air Force, and Italian and Spanish navies.
Source: http://www.northropgrumman.com