Aerial Reconnaissance Pod

Aerial Reconnaissance Pod

A reconnaissance pod is a key part of an aircraft that allows it to take a wide variety of aerial imagery during the flight.aerial reconnaissance pod A reconnaissance pod can transmit images via data link to a ground station in real time or after the mission as determined by the aircrew, or both.

Reconnaissance pods are not just for military airframes, commercial jets and helicopters can also carry them.aerial reconnaissance pod One company has developed a self contained pod that can be used to turn any light aircraft into an ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) platform. The pod carries a single electro optical sensor turret and can be augmented with a range of payloads including moving map display, augmentation and up/down link communications equipment.

The pods are designed to be able to operate at high speeds and G loads and the company says that they can convert any light aircraft into an ISTAR platform in under 30 minutes.aerial reconnaissance pod The company has already converted some F-16A/B Hornets into the RecceLite pod and there are plans to add it to other platforms as well.

There is already a market for the type of system that the RecceLite offers, the USAF is considering fitting it to their existing fleet of F-14D Tomcats and the RAF is also looking at it for their Jaguars which will be taking over some of the low and medium level reconnaissance duties from the F-4 Phantoms.aerial reconnaissance pod In addition to the capability to take images in both visible and infrared wavelengths, the pod can deliver image processing capabilities as well allowing for a much quicker turnaround from reconnaissance mission to finished film print - reducing the time it takes to get the information from the aircraft to the ground.

In the late 1960s, the United States Navy began equipping its fleet of F-14D Tomcats with an airborne reconnaissance pod known as TARPS. Despite the fact that it was a large pod, it only added some 1,800 pounds to the aircraft's maximum weight and had no effect on its performance or flight envelope.

It consists of three bays. The first bay held a KA-99 panoramic camera which rotated from horizon to horizon for daytime photographic coverage and could be directed straight down or to a 45 degree angle for oblique photographs. The second bay held an infrared line scanner for nighttime photo coverage and daytime tracing missions. The third bay contained a frame camera for spot photography.

All of the cameras are monitored by a system in the tail section of the pod called a CIPDU (Camera Identification and Processing Unit) that recorded the aircraft position and time on the camera film and annotated it to the photographic data for intelligence purposes. The CIPDU also transmitted the aircraft position and time to a datalink ground station for use by reconnaissance analysts.

Goodrich's DB-110 is a digital version of the TARPS that can record in both visible and infrared wavelengths and can transmit images over the data link to ground stations in real time or after the mission as determined from the aircrew. The DB-110 is currently being delivered to Poland for use on its Tornados as the country prepares to withdraw its older F-4 Phantoms from service. The DB-110 is also being offered to other export customers as well.

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