Lockheed Martin officials tell Air Warfare Symposium attendees the company expects this year to demonstrate for the Air Force the two-way “John Madden” capability of its Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod. In the Sniper’s first demonstration, Lockheed used a video downlink that showed streaming TV with increased resolution and imagery. The second demonstration will feature transmit and receive, high-definition quality, two-way connectivity to generate even more precise targeting ability. Lockheed plans to offer the Air Force the John Madden video-to-ground feature in real-time to replace LANTIRN targeting pods on the F-16 and F-15E. Lockheed already has received a contract for a B-1B Sniper flight demo and hopes to flight test it with the B-52 later this year.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.