Lockheed Martin has received a direct commercial sale contract through Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to integrate the Sniper® Advanced Tar...
Lockheed Martin has received a direct commercial sale contract through Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to integrate the Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) onto the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s (JASDF) F-2 aircraft.
This initial contract, awarded in 2014, includes a Sniper pod, spares and support equipment for integration. The F-2 is the eighth aircraft platform to be equipped with Sniper ATP, joining variants of the F-15, F-16, F-18, A-10, B-1, B-52 and Harrier.
Lockheed Martin will work with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the prime aircraft manufacturer, to complete Sniper ATP integration on the F-2. Follow-on contracts are expected to include additional pods, spares, logistics and support equipment for the F-2 fleet.
Sniper ATP offers pilots high-resolution imagery for precision targeting and non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It detects, identifies, automatically tracks and laser designates small tactical targets at long ranges and supports employment of all laser- and GPS-guided weapons against multiple fixed and moving targets.
The F-2 is a fourth generation fighter jet manufactured by Mitsubishi and Lockheed Martin, developed based on the F-16 fighter jet. The F-2 differs from F-16 in having a larger wing, use of composites for weight and RCS reduction, larger tail plane, larger air intake and a longer and wider nose cone to equip the AESA radar. It was the first operational military aircraft to be equipped with a AESA radar, even before the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
