Northrop Grumman announced Tuesday that its LITENING precision targeting and sensor systems, currently deployed onboard Air Force and Marine Corps aircraft, have achieved 500,000 operational hours (with more than 250,000 of those hours having come about on combat missions. To date, more than 400 pods have been ordered and more than 360 fielded on the A-10, B-52, F-15E, F-16, and Marine Corps AV-8Bs and F/A-18Cs.
The Air Force needs a high-end aircraft that can operate in contested environments that will work with the service’s new Collaborative Combat Aircraft semi-autonomous drones and other less pricey platforms, the service's officer said March 18. “Instead of going all high-end and then breaking the bank and not being able…