not planned or correct for our suite 3 based version Sniper pod for A-10C II

EricJ · May 16

Is that planned or is it specifically for the F-16? If not then cool, but it would be cool to have a better pod for the Hog.

razo+r · May 16

Not planned so far for the A-10C.

Rapti · May 16

53 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Is that planned or is it specifically for the F-16? If not then cool, but it would be cool to have a better pod for the Hog.

fully agree!

Silver_Dragon · May 16

Is that planned or is it specifically for the F-16? If not then cool, but it would be cool to have a better pod for the Hog.

I think the A-10C II has no the propper lot to the Sniper pod.

Enviado desde mi CPH2197 mediante Tapatalk

Rapti · May 17

https://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=0f5168ee-6721-40de-abee-e03759c96dc7

Gesendet von meinem SM-S928B mit Tapatalk

ASAP · June 6

23 hours ago, Dragan said:

Why don't we have a combination with two different targeting pods so that we can change them as needed,like we have 3 different ECMs, here in this real life footage there is something like that.I agree with you.

Thats a SUU-25 pod for LUU-2 and LUU-19 illumination flares...

Mad Dog 762 · June 6

A-10C's fly with the Sniper Pod every day. It is probably more common than the litening these days.

ASAP · June 6

21 hours ago, Mad Dog 762 said:

A-10C's fly with the Sniper Pod every day. It is probably more common than the litening these days.

Source? I've never seen anything other than a lightning pod on the A-10 and I've worked around A-10's for the last 5 years.

Northstar98 · June 6

3 minutes ago, ASAP said:

Source? I've never seen anything other than a lightning pod on the A-10 and I've worked around A-10's for the last 5 years.

Don't know about more common, but these images are circa 2009 and have Sniper:

Here's an article about Sniper integration onto A-10Cs, again circa 2009: https://www.dm.af.mil/Media/Article-View/Article/314052/lockheed-martin-completes-targeting-pod-site-activation-at-d-m/

ASAP · June 7

1 hour ago, Northstar98 said:

Don't know about more common, but these images are circa 2009 and have Sniper:

Sure, but that's a 16 year old article. A-10's are pretty much exclusively using litening pods now.

EricJ · June 7

Okay there's a sticker/tag that was added that there are no plans for the DCS version, so we're stuck with the Litening pod.

Mad Dog 762 · June 7

I live near a A-10 base (190th FS) and I see them all the time. There is still a mixture of pods, and I would say more Sniper than Litening these days.

Snoopy · June 8

On 6/5/2025 at 9:51 PM, Mad Dog 762 said:

A-10C's fly with the Sniper Pod every day. It is probably more common than the litening these days.

That’s incorrect the Sniper pod hasn’t been used regularly in the A-10 community since around 2012.

On 6/7/2025 at 5:03 PM, Mad Dog 762 said:

I live near a A-10 base (190th FS) and I see them all the time. There is still a mixture of pods, and I would say more Sniper than Litening these days.

At Moody now and at Whiteman for 2.5 years and I can tell you that isn’t the case at either of these bases.

Edited June 9 by Snoopy

Victor3 · June 9

Just my humble opinion, but if it was used as an option on the real AC why not make it available as an option on the DCS version??

Snoopy · June 9

4 hours ago, Victor3 said:

Just my humble opinion, but if it was used as an option on the real AC why not make it available as an option on the DCS version??

Likely because it's not a plug and play from one airframe to another, even on the real jets. ED does "just enough" to keep the A-10C II viable (how long have we been waiting on the in-cockpit pilot) so I wouldn't expect any additions. Heck we can't even get a simulated gateway to share network information with client Vipers or Hornets (but we can see AI viper & hornet network data last I checked) they're not going to invest the time to develop the Sniper for the A-10C.

Mad Dog 762 · June 9

Well, I'll get you guys a pic next time one flies over my back yard.

Snoopy · June 10

14 hours ago, Mad Dog 762 said:

Well, I'll get you guys a pic next time one flies over my back yard.

Cool, all I know is the units I've been a part of and/or visited the last few years aren't using them (Moody, Whiteman, & DM). And soon you won't get to see it in your back yard at all since they're divesting their A-10s soon IIRC.

On the topic of DCS though it isn't going to matter we aren't getting it.

ASAP · June 10

22 hours ago, Mad Dog 762 said:

Well, I'll get you guys a pic next time one flies over my back yard.

Eagerly waiting for it.

EricJ · June 10

8 hours ago, Snoopy said:

Cool, all I know is the units I've been a part of and/or visited the last few years aren't using them (Moody, Whiteman, & DM). And soon you won't get to see it in your back yard at all since they're divesting their A-10s soon IIRC.

On the topic of DCS though it isn't going to matter we aren't getting it.

I have half a mind to delete the topic, or ask it to be closed, but a PM conversation with NineLine... He said not to give up hope. So I'll keep the topic around for that fact. So yes right now it may not be implemented, but maybe in the future it will be. There's simply no reason not to, and we'll have to hope they'll reconsider once the Sniper pod tech works out. I mean the current pod is good enough for what I do (it's done a good job so far), and so on, so it's not like it's a burning request right now. More or less "nice to have since it's employed", and so on. So for hope I'll keep the topic around and such.

Edited June 10 by EricJ

Silver_Dragon · June 10

A Sniper Pod will required a Suite 8 A-10C.

Mad Dog 762 · June 11

Looking back through my pics it looks like the Fort Smith and Moody Hawgs were the ones most often carrying the Sniper.

Dragan · June 11

In this very old footage, the A-10 does not have the targeting pod that we are familiar with, is this the pod we are talking about? By its appearance, I would say it does not AN/AAQ-28 Litening???

Snoopy · June 11

22 hours ago, Silver_Dragon said:

A Sniper Pod will required a Suite 8 A-10C.

That’s incorrect we carried the sniper all the time in suites older than 7+ when HMCS was introduced. The A-10C never stopped being able to carry it we just didn’t it.

17 hours ago, Mad Dog 762 said:

Looking back through my pics it looks like the Fort Smith and Moody Hawgs were the ones most often carrying the Sniper.

We carried sniper only at Moody until around 2012ish.

Edited June 11 by Snoopy

NineLine · 2025-07-18T18:38:03Z

As we have stated in a number of places now, the Sniper pod and supported software was done for only the Viper; you could not just simply copy and paste it onto another aircraft.

Why isn't it going to be on the A-10C?

1) For the above reason, it was always planned for the F-16C and only that. I know most of you guys do your research and even if you look at the implementation of the same pod on two different aircraft, they can work, function or operate very differently.

2) We do not have the information for the pod within the cockpit of the A-10C. We do not have legal accessible documentation on how the pod functions within the cockpit of the A-10C, its possible its identical or close to the Viper, but even if we found out it was, the information is neither available or legal to use at this point in time. I know this doesnt always make sense, especially when we are working on even new aircraft, but it is an issue here.

3) Lets say we resolved 1 and 2, there is a matter of resources and time alloted for such additions, most certainly it would take away from new developments, current projects, etc. While all the A-10C pilots might rejoice, others might be upset to find their favorite project was held up by giving the A-10C another pod that maybe it doesnt really need right now besides being cool to have.

But But you guys did a suite update to add new items for the A-10C II update.

While we added some cool new items, we did not update the suite software, and the A-10C remains mostly a Suite 3 aircraft. Yes it has newer suite items but we did not do a complete and total suite update on it, the information is simple not available for us to do so. And as most of you know, we have a special relationship with the military and the A-10C and will not step on or risk issues by using things we should not be using.

Now, with the news that the A-10Cs might be retired sooner rather than later, maybe we will see more info come to the public, and then maybe down the road we could do more with the aircraft, but right now we just cannot do this to the level we would want to be able to do it.

PS the Pilot model is getting close, so that is still coming.