Here’s how a Typhoon multirole aircraft can hit two targets at the same time

The Aviationist ^ | April 29, 2013 | David Cenciotti

[sukhoi-30mki]

Here’s how a Typhoon multirole aircraft can hit two targets at the same time with a single targeting pod

The recent article about the Typhoon fighter jet performing first laser guided, self designating, simultaneous guided bomb drops sparked some debate.

Although other aircraft are known to have similar capabilities, some readers asked how a combat plane could hit two targets at same time with only a single laser designator of the Litening pod.

I asked Andrea Kay, Senior Communications Advisor at BAE Systems, one of the companies of the Eurofighter consortium, to shed some light on the matter.

Andrea inquired his colleague Bob Smith, Engineering Director for Combat Air and here is Smith’s response:

“The Litening Pod is capable of illuminating/tracking multiple targets at any point in time, however, the implementation on the RAF Tranche 1 Aircraft was an austere implementation, limiting the system to a single target attack at any one time . So the answer to the specific question below is yes it does switch between targets at a high rate. The Laser does not need to change frequency for each target because the bomb is assigned to a target and just follows the Laser beam.”

[sukhoi-30mki]

Image credit: Eurofighter

[HiJinx]

Sounds like it depends upon your definition of ‘same time.’

[null and void]

Bombs landing within a fraction of a second is close enough to ‘same time’ for me. YMMV.

[Freeport]

While I’m not going to go into specifics for obvious reasons, there is plenty of unused bandwidth in the lasing schema (Information assigend pre-flight to each bomb about the designator.) for a single laser to be used to designate multiple targets.

The actual number is lasing system dependent.

For a Paveway system, as shown in the picture, there are tactical requirements that are also involved in the number of simultanious target which can be hit.

[USNBandit]

There is another reason users don't utilize a capability like this. Some of laser systems have a "slew" and then designate requirement. I flew with LANTIRN, and despite having a really good nav system in the pod, it required you to sweeten up the solution before designating the target.

It sounds like they have eliminated this requirement and have added a more advanced stores management system where the targeting pod is able to pull the correct laser code for the particular weapon automatically.

[null and void]

It sounds like they have eliminated this requirement and have added a more advanced stores management system where the targeting pod is able to pull the correct laser code for the particular weapon automatically.

That would be the logical thing to do.

The pilot and/or navigator-bombardier is probably quite busy enough without having to manually enter a 27 digit weapons specific alphanumeric ID code while being shot at...

[USNBandit]

Not that type of code. I can remember, but it is either 4 or 5 digits. Still, there have been plenty of weapons released on the wrong code.

[null and void]

Ah, the benefits of unbridled ignorance, I just guessed 27 characters and alphanumeric for absurdity’s sake.

I figured there was a FReeper who actually knew The Truth!

[USNBandit]

You hit closer to the truth than you know. I used to have a 15 character, at least one cap, one lower case, one numeral, one special character, rotating every ninety day password ......drumroll please.........just to get my weather forecast to fly.

[null and void]

*forehead slap* I forgot case sensitive!