THE LITENING V advanced targeting pod designed by Israel's Rafael is about to enter squadron service with the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4s of the RAF. The Litening Ⅲ targeting pod currently used by RAF Typhoons was originally carried by the service's Panavia Tornado GR4s, which were retired in April 2019. With two crew members, the GR4s could dedicate their weapon systems officer to working the targeting pod, but this imposes a huge workload on the lone pilot of a Typhoon."The Litening V is going to the front line for squadron training imminently," Andrew Mallery-Blythe, Typhoon operational requirements manager at BAE Systems - Air, told AIR International. He said the pod had been with the RAF's No 41 Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) for around 18 months to make minor tweaks and clear it for squadron service."With the Litening V the auto tracking, accuracy, co-ordinate generation and advanced optics get better by an order of magnitude."
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