Denmark First International Operator of Fourth Generation System

The Royal Danish Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for the fourth generation LITENING advanced targeting pod for use on its F-16 fleet, the company announced on 14 March. Denmark is the first international customer to deploy this latest development of the system.

LITENING (originally manufactured by Rafael), integrated on the A-10, AV-8B, B-52, C-130, F-15, F-16 and F/A-18, has amassed more than two million operating hours to date. The latest development gives aircrews superior situational awareness and targeting capabilities for strike and ISR missions, with technologies including digital, high definition video, 1K forward-looking infrared and charge-coupled device sensors, laser imaging sensors and advanced data links. These advances deliver more accurate target identification and location at longer ranges than previous targeting pod systems, while also reducing pilot workload.

“As a key member of NATO, Denmark supports a wide range of missions. LITENING gives the RDAF powerful capabilities to carry out these missions, whether they call for targeting or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR),” said Dr. Robert Fleming, vice president, programmes, Northrop Grumman.