The 
new Sniper XR targeting pod, used first on fighters, will soon go on bombers, too. The B-1 Systems Group at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, are engaged in adapting the B-1B so it, too, can use the Sniper. The big advantage: It provides positive identification capability. The current radar system that was used to hunt Scuds in Iraq did not provide sufficiently clear resolution. The B-1B pilots had to call on fighters to ID the target. Full integration is projected for FY 2009.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
