Northrop Grumman LITENING Color Targeting Pods Enter Service

Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard field color video capability

Northrop Grumman’s LITENING advanced targeting pod has been fielded for the first time with full-color, digital video capability with the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, giving pilots of the service’s F-16s an unprecedented level of situational awareness and targeting certainty.

“LITENING’s color video capability gives pilots a clearer picture of the battlespace, making targeting faster and more accurate,” said James Conroy, vice president, navigation, targeting and survivability, Northrop Grumman. “The LITENING pod can display up to three different views simultaneously, allowing operators to see color and infrared video side by side, and in different fields of view. The result is a clearer view of an area of interest only available when flying with LITENING.”

LITENING has been continuously upgraded over four generations and has logged more than three million operational flight hours. Northrop Grumman’s Agile methodologies and digital design expertise are accelerating the pace of change to deliver new capabilities to the field rapidly in response to evolving requirements.

Built with a modular design, any LITENING pod can be upgraded to the color configuration. The upgrade also includes the ability to record simultaneous video feeds from all sensors for post-mission analysis, automatic laser code display and an eye-safe mode that allows for more realistic training while using the laser.

Northrop Grumman has delivered more than 900 LITENING pods to the United States and international partner nations. The pod has maintained an availability rate in excess of 95 percent.

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 97,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.

To see LITENING color images and video, visit https://www.northropgrumman.com/litening.

Source: Northrop Grumman media announcement