(LANTIRN) system consists of a pair of cylindrical pods that fit on stubby pylons under the forward fuselage of the F-15E and selected F-16s. The AAQ-13 navigation pod weighs 430lb./195 kg.; the AAQ-14 targeting pod weighs 540 lb./245 kg.; and the software that integrates them with the aircraft flight controls and weapons weighs nothing at all. LANTIRN combines a host of electro-optical and computer technologies to do something quite simple: turn night into day for the crew of a strike fighter. Under a $2.9 billion contract awarded in 1985, Martin Marietta delivered 561 navigation pods and 506 targeting pods, plus support equipment, to the U.S. Air Force. At one time, there were plans to integrate the system on the A-10, and possibly the B-1B, but this is now unlikely, due to budget constraints. The complete LANTIRN system adds about $4 million to the cost of the aircraft; not a high price for turning night into day.
The AAQ-13 navigation pod includes a Texas Instruments Ku-band terrain-following radar (TFR) and forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor that turns heat emitted by objects into a visible image. The pod generates video imagery and symbology for the pilot's Heads-Up Display (HUD) for a field-of-view of 21deg by 28deg. The image is grainy, but the sense of depth is good enough to fly by in total darkness or the smoke of a battlefield. Rain, fog, or snow, however, degrade the performance of the system, since infrared energy is attenuated by aerosols or water vapor. The TFR in the AAQ-13 pod can be linked directly to the aircraft's autopilot to automatically maintain a preset altitude down to 100 feet/30.5 meters while flying over virtually any kind of terrain. For manual operations it projects a 'fly-to box' on the HUD, so that all the pilot needs to do is keep the plane's centerline aimed at the 'fly-to box' to safely clear obstacles. It is even possible to land the plane safely at night without runway lights, simply by viewing the different infrared signatures of the painted strips on the runway surface! By flicking a HOTAS switch on the control stick, the pilot can 'snap look' left, right, up, or down, either in level flight or in a banked turn. Another switch selects 'black hot' or 'white hot,' allowing the pilot to choose whichever mode provides the best image contrast.
The AAQ-14 targeting pod includes another FLIR in a two-axis turret, with a selectable wide or narrow field-of-view, and a laser designator/rangefinder. The targeting pod FLIR displays its imagery on a small video screen in the cockpit; it can be aimed independently of the navigation pod FLIR and used like a telescope to identify terrain features or targets at fairly long ranges. The targeting pod's laser designator can then 'illuminate' targets for laser-guided bombs like the Paveway III series (described later). It can also lock on to moving targets and track them automatically, as well as designate ground targets for AGM-65 Maverick missiles (which use either TV or imaging infrared guidance). In fact, it is possible to designate targets for multiple Maverick shots in a single pass. The laser can also be used to determine the exact range to a landmark in order to update the aircraft's inertial navigation system; this is critical for the accurate delivery of all kinds of ordnance (guided and unguided) without visual references. For training, the targeting pod laser has a special low-energy 'eye-safe' mode, which suggests that the full power of the AAQ-14's laser could potentially blind ground troops. Although LANTIRN targeting was designed for air-to-ground weapons delivery, there is nothing to prevent the crew from using the capabilities of the system in air-to-air combat. Modern Russian aircraft like the MiG-29 and Su-27 have an Infrared Search and Track System (IRST) mounted in a small hemispherical fairing forward of the cockpit that allows for detection and targeting of enemy aircraft without radar emissions that might alert the potential victim. It is likely that AAQ-14 pod has a similar potential, although it is not certain how well this is supported by the current software.
Despite delays in the LANTIRN program, one wing of seventy-two F-16s (out of some 249 deployed) was equipped for LANTIRN during Desert Storm, with the AAQ-13 navigation pod. Forty-eight F-15Es deployed to the Persian Gulf; all of these had the navigation pod, and about a dozen received AAQ-14 targeting pods, rushed into service directly from the factory. LANTIRN made it possible to fly safely, at low level, at night, across featureless desert terrain, without the need for high-powered navigation aids, such as the APG-70 ground-mapping radar, which might have alerted enemy sensors. Many of the LANTIRN combat sorties flown by the F-15Es and F-16Cs were devoted to the 'Great SCUD Hunt' in the western desert of Iraq.
Flying the F-15E Strike Eagle
The first time they go to an airshow featuring the USAF Thunderbirds, the USN Blue Angels, or perhaps the RAF Red Arrows, many boys and girls dream of flying the kind of high-performance aircraft they see there. When we went out to visit the 366th Wing at Mountain Home AFB, there was an invitation waiting for just such a ride, in the aircraft of our choice — F-15 Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, or F-16 Fighting Falcon. Now, it's no secret that I'm not much of a fan of powered flight, much less sitting on top of an explosive ejection seat ready to launch me from the airplane! I've turned down a number of such offers over the years, the most tempting of these being an F-16 ride from my old friend Brigadier General 'Tony' Tolin, who once commanded the F-117 Wing out in Nevada. Luckily, my researcher John Gresham has no such qualms, and all but left tread marks on the ground when he was informed of the opportunity.
His first choice of aircraft was something of a 'no-brainer,' being one of the powerful F-15E Strike Eagles flown by the 391st FS, the 'Bold Tigers.' Thus, several days before we flew down to Nellis AFB, Nevada, for Green Flag 94-3, we all went down to the 391st FS headquarters building to watch him suit up and go on his flight. The first stop was to meet Lieutenant Colonel Frank W. 'Claw' Clawson, the 391st's commanding officer, who gave John the opportunity to choose who would chauffeur him around the sky this day. John, no fool, asked for one of the senior pilots in the squadron, and got one of the best, Lieutenant Colonel Roger 'Boom-Boom' Turcott, the squadron's operations officer. This decided, we were shuttled off to get ready for his adventure.
First stop was a quick check from the squadron flight surgeon. After a look with a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff, he was pronounced fit for 'limited, low-altitude flight.' This is because he does not have a current altitude chamber card (issued after an annual pressure chamber test to certify a flyer's tolerance to the low pressures above 15,000 feet/4,572 meters altitude), or a centrifuge certification (similar to the chamber card) which would allow him to pull the maximum Gs that the modern USAF is capable of pulling. Not that any of this was going to be a limitation, for the flight he was going on was to be an actual low-altitude training flight, practicing bomb and missile deliveries on the 366th's range at Saylor Creek, some twenty miles from the base. As the medical officer was finishing, he smiled and said he would see John afterwards, just in case he needed something for nausea or anything else.
The next stop was the cockpit simulator, which is kept in a small room in the headquarters building. Here, we were met by Captain Rob Evans, who ran us through what John would be doing in the backseat of Boom-Boom's aircraft. Evans then demonstrated what not to touch unless directed to by the pilot (the stick, throttles, and ejection seat handles being key items!), and how to use the ACES II ejection seat in the event of an emergency. It is incredibly simple actually. All you have to do is straighten yourself up in the seat and pull one of the two yellow ejection-seat handles. The canopy transparency is then jettisoned, and the seats eject, the WSO's first, followed by the pilot's. From that point on, everything happens pretty much automatically, including seat separation and parachute deployment.
Now it was time for the preflight briefing. Moving over to the squadron briefing room, John sat down with Boom-Boom, Claw, and the other five crewmen who would be on the flight. One thing that was made clear to us was that with training dollars as scarce as hen's teeth these days, this mission was going to run exactly like any other training sortie. Every part of the planned flight was discussed, and then loaded from a planning computer onto a 32K data transfer module (DTM) cartridges. All Boom-Boom would have to do is stick the DTM into a small slot in the front cockpit of the F-15E, and the bird would pretty much know where to go, what to do, and how to do it. Flight and equipment safety rules were restated and reinforced. Finally, as the meeting broke up, each of the other aircrews wished John a hearty 'good luck,' and then we headed down to the 391st Life Support Shop.
