Northrop Grumman delivered its first batch of 50 Litening G4 advanced targeting pods to the Air Force, according to a company release. The latest in the Litening series, the G4 pod is capable of fixing targets from farther away, offering a broader field of vision and improved zoom characteristics over previous marks. The pod is a “significant technological leap, enhancing the F-16’s combat capability, while reducing pilot workload,” stated Maj. Evans Boeve, targeting pod program manager with the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center in Tucson, Ariz. In addition to new-build G4 pods, customers may choose to retrofit the G4’s updated data links, sensors, and imaging capability on previous generations of Litening pods, according to the company. The lot 1 G4 deliveries were part of a $277.8 million contract.
Lockheed Martin projects more than a billion dollars of losses on a classified program, but company officials said April 23 they are confident it will turn profitable by 2028 and become a "franchise" system in the U.S. military.