From The Archives: Block 30 F-16s Showing Off Their Lockheed Martin Sniper XR Pods

On the cover of this Paris Preview edition dated May 23, 2005, is a pair of Blk. 30 F-16s with the Air Force Air National Guard Test Center showing their Lockheed Martin Sniper XR pods that were operating in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time on F-16s and F-15Es.

U.S. aviation units in Iraq had just rotated, but one constant in operations there is the introduction of the latest generation of targeting pods that have increased sensor resolution by as much as five times.

These improvements are crucial in the new role for strike aircraft of non-traditional surveillance and intelligence gathering.

Read our feature Iraq - the Network At War on page 50. 

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