Lockheed Martin recently delivered the first Sniper sensor pods ordered by the South Korean air force for its fleet of F-15K fighters. They arrived at Daegu Air Base, home to F-15Ks. The pods, which identify targets at long ranges and relay high-resolution streaming video to ground forces, will be “immediately deployed into full flight operations” with the F-15K fleet, according to a company release. “Sniper pods provide the [South Koreans] with updated targeting and non-traditional intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance capabilities,” said Marc Nazon, Lockheed’s program manager for fixed wing fire control. “We look forward to continued support and training to ensure that [their] pilots and maintainers have a full command of the Sniper pod’s life capabilities.”
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.