Officials Map Out Test Milestones for Airborne Laser

Space.com ^ | March 22nd, 2006 | Jeremy Singer

[Yo-Yo]

How about cargo containers?

[null and void]

I think my luggage was in that container...

[subterfuge]

I've worked on Pave Tack FLIR pods for F-111s.

Awesome! Did you work on them around the time we bombed the u-no-what out of Mohamor Khadaffi? I actually built dozens and dozens of the Laser Rangefinders in the Pave Tack system back in the early 80s.

[Yo-Yo]

If you read my tag line, you'll see I was out by the time we bombed Mohamor's tent in 1986.

However, interesting story about the footage that was shown over and over on the news of the overflight and bombing of the IL-76s on the ramp. If you recall the footage, the camera (and IR laser) stays focused on one of the IL-76s while the F-111F overflies the target. The image begins with the target ahead of the attacking aircraft, progresses to directly below, then finally you see the bombs impact as the attacking aircraft is beyond the target.

As the F-111F overflew the target, the image became inverted, and in fact several news agencies used electronic means to flip the image upright, but the original footage was of the target aircraft upside down at bomb impact.

When I saw the original footage, I knew that the attacking aircraft's Pave Tack pod had a malfunctioning roll servo in the head! The imager should have rotated 180 degrees when the F-111F overflew the target, but didn't.

[doorgunner69]

The laser is intended to hit a specific section of the missile for the highest probability of destroying it. Painting a realistic rendering gives the computers something to aim at.

That said, adversaries know of the vulnerable areas and are no doubt hard at work armoring them, though this degrades range and/or warhead size.

[subterfuge]

When I saw the original footage, I knew that the attacking aircraft's Pave Tack pod had a malfunctioning roll servo in the head! The imager should have rotated 180 degrees when the F-111F overflew the target, but didn't.

Pretty amazing. That is some old technology but it is still very similar to what is being used today. My company makes the laser rangefinder/designators for the F/A-18, the F117 Stealth Fighter, the Apache and the M1A2 tanks among others. I rarely run into anyone who has a clue as to what these systems do, let alone someone who actually worked with them.

[Yo-Yo]

That technology is still in use, you know. We may have retired the Pave Tack with the F-111F, but the Aussies still fly Pave Tack in their F-111Cs and F-111Gs.

Interesting Aussie F-111 thread here.

[subterfuge]

Nice. I helped train the Aussies on how to build those pavetacks.

[Yo-Yo]

Good job, it works!

[archy]

I've worked on Pave Tack FLIR pods for F-111s.

My fiancee had a similar job maintaining Pave Penny equipment on A-10 Warthawgs, now obsoleted by the LANTIRN and A10C target-designating improvements.

But she has maintained a professional interest in the equipment that replaced that with which she was most familiar, and could likely transition to the newer technology if it came to that. If the Joint Strike Fighter replaces the A10s in 2028 as scheduled- around the time the B52s are supposed to finally retire- than she might relax a bit. But if the JSF doesn't pan out, there is a fall-back option.