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.
President Donald Trump is interested in developing a twin-engined, upgraded version of the F-35 fighter, he said during a press event May 15 in Qatar marking the sale of Boeing airliners and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways. He said he would name the improved aircraft the “F-55” and also…