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A-10C units certified to fly with sniper pods

The A-10C Thunderbolt is ready to go war with sharper eyes.

Air Force and Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that A-10C fighters at two bases are now certified to fly with the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod.

A-10 pilots flying with the pods can determine a target’s Global Positioning System coordinates on their own and can see what is happening on the ground through video and infrared cameras, said Lt. Col. Michael Millen, commander of the 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., one of the first units to get the Sniper.

Without the pods, pilots need someone else to determine a target’s GPS coordinates, Millen said, and often have to look out the canopy with their binoculars to see the ground.

Also equipped with the pods is the 81st Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Fighters at a third base, the 23rd Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., will get the pods this summer.

The Sniper pod is also compatible with portable ROVER video terminals that allow troops on the ground to see the same Sniper video the pilot is watching, enabling the A-10C to fly reconnaissance missions.

The pod can be carried under either wing, Millen said.

Millen declined to say when the 354th is set to deploy with the pods, but did say the squadron expects to be gone for much of the fall. Pilots with the 354th worked with special operations and Army units during Green Flag East and Emerald Warrior exercises to prepare for the deployment and practice using the pods.

Sniper pods are already flown on F-15Es, F-16s and B-1Bs. Upgraded cockpit avionics enable the A-10C to use the pod.