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Lockheed Martin Awarded B-1B Sniper Pod Contract

The USAF B-1B aircraft
by Staff Writers
Orlando FL (SPX) Sep 26, 2007
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $2.8 million follow-on contract by the Boeing to support full Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) functionality on the U.S. Air Force B-1B aircraft. Integration activities began in June 2007. This contract follows on the heels of highly successful B-1B Sniper demonstration flights in January 2007 involving live weapon drops. Sniper ATP's low drag, extended range performance and high reliability make it exceptionally well-tailored for the B-1B.

The addition of Sniper on the B-1B will broaden the range of options to Warfighters and not only fulfill traditional missions, but also meet the demands of non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for coalition forces. Additionally, Sniper ATP provides the B-1B with a real-time bomb damage assessment capability.

"Sniper's ease of integration will enable the U.S. Air Force to expediently field this enabling capability on the B-1 to meet the challenges of current ongoing operations," said Ken Fuhr, Sniper program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Sniper will contribute to the bomber's ability to assist the Warfighter in achieving mission success."

Sniper ATP's exceptional stability and superior imagery permit aircrews to positively identify and extract weapon quality coordinates from outside many threat ranges. For urban combat and training, a dual-mode laser permits both eye-safe laser use and enhanced Laser Guided Bomb guidance. For target sharing, a laser spot tracker, laser marker and video downlink enable highly improved joint and coalition ground force coordination.

Sniper pods are currently flying on the F-15E, F-16 blocks 30/40/50, A-10C, A-10A+, F/A-18 and GR9 Harrier platform configurations. Its common software/hardware interface design enables the U.S. Air Force to "plug and play" Sniper across multiple platforms providing maximum flexibility and capability across the force.

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ESA And India Tighten Relations At IAC 2007
Hyderabad, India (ESA) Sep 26, 2007
The 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) is taking place this week from 24 to 29 September in Hyderabad, India, with the theme 'Touching humanity: Space for improving quality of life'. One of the major space events of the year, this congress brings together some 2000 international space specialists providing a crossroad uniting the world's space agencies, astronautics institutes, aerospace scientific associations, firms involved in space activities and students.







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