Lightening vs Sniper pod

[Notso]

I was reading through WAG's product development announcement sticky about the planned development of the F-16 Module. I thought all the Block 50s had the AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Pod by 2007? Although it was likely unit specific as there were still a lot of Lightening Pods in various units throughout the USAF around then. It was probably unit specific.

 

Not a big deal, I was just curious. ED probably made the decision to stick with Lightening since they had already implemented it in the Hornet and there is no sense in starting all over again with two different sensor tracks. Make sense.

[Eviscerador]

They were not sure about getting all the documentation for a proper Sniper simulation, so they stick with the litening that is also used by the Block 50 and maybe later we will have the Sniper.

 

Also as you said it is easier to fit since it is already developed for other modules.

[Harlikwin]

Yeah I think the litening is the stopgap for now. The other thing to consider is the new FLIR model they are developing, that at a guess is on the back burner for now, and some sort of TPOD vs no TPOD for 3 years is an easy choice to make.

[MadCat1381]

Does anyone know how the Litening integrates with the HTS? I read, that the Sniper integrated quite well.

[Harlikwin]

Seems to integrate fairly well IMO.

[max22]

 

In this video a USAF Avionics Technician off the F-16C said that the Sniper is better. It's a long video try look around for the topic.

[Notso]

 

In this video a USAF Avionics Technician off the F-16C said that the Sniper is better. It's a long video try look around for the topic.

 

Yeah, the Sniper pod is definitely better, although the Lightening is no slouch. Both are a quantum leap above the old LANTIRN TGP and from what I've been told both are better than the old ATFLIR on the earlier Hornets.

 

The main issue the Lightening pod has was that if you are doing a continuous 360 deg circle around a target with the Pod pointed at that spot on the ground (such as a CAS Wheel), after a few circles the pod would suddenly unwind itself and the camera would spin violently. I was told by an avionics tech it was because the cables to the camera assemble in the turret could only twist so much before it had to unwind itself. The problem was it alway happened at inopportune times. Somehow the SNIPER solved this issue. But overall the optics and the tracking and everything in the SNIPER was much improved. I think except for some Guard units, the LIGHTENING was always meant to be a stopgap until SNIPER was in full production.

[*Rage*]

I thought it was confirmed we are still getting the Sniper.

[Oceandar]

AFAIK still no definitive decision about it.

[WildWeasel303]

 

In this video a USAF Avionics Technician off the F-16C said that the Sniper is better. It's a long video try look around for the topic.

 

See, here's the thing, most if not all of the Avionics pointy heads at my base are pretty adamant that the sniper pod is better when used for A/A use vs the LITENING is best used in A/G. So I have a hard time believing this guy that the Grim Reapers talked to, especially when he says shit like Hydrazine has Hydraulic fluid in it :huh:.

When I asked my avionics guys why not the sniper, the reasoning was pretty simple. Cost.

Basically the way they broke it down for me is that when you put both side by side in terms of functionality and what the cost is associated with them, the LITENING shines brighter with more A/G usefulness at a higher cost. One of the biggest advantages to the Sniper pod is it's reduced cost vs the LITENING with similar performance which is why you see it with a lot of the big active duty 16 units. The smaller units that have a bigger focus on CAS missions will put a preference for the LITENING over the Sniper.

 

Again, just what my dudes have told me. If someone's got a better set of reasons to throw out there, feel free to shoot em out there. :D

Edited November 24, 2019 by WildWeasel303

[sk000tch]

Wildweasal my understanding is that litening did not have the auto target recognition or datalink necessary to be compatible with HTS R7 until G4, which was several major tapes after our f-16. In fairness we don’t really have an accurately simulated litening, so it’s not fair to compare real sniper ATP vs DCS litening, but certainly the optics and image processing capabilities are much better, allowing range necessary for wild weasel mission. At least for that time period.

 

I think there’s probably some tech limitations involved. I can’t tell whether civilian cars even have license plates in DCS litening, much less read them from beyond jet noise range. Im sympathetic to the issue, why bother with the work if the sim can’t simulate the tech. It breaks the whole accuracy mantra, but if it provides no benefit does it matter? At the rate development of the viper is going, I’m certainly not complaining