Litening
The LITENING target lighting container is a precision target lighting container for combat aircraft. With its swiveling sensor head, the container is able to detect targets over long distances at night and in bad weather and to illuminate them with a laser beam for guided weapons ( laser-guided bombs , JDAM or rocket-propelled guided missiles). The container was made by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. developed and produced. Over 1000 containers have now been produced.
variants
- Rafael Litening Generation I
- This first target light container was manufactured in 1992 by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. developed for the Israeli Air Force (IASF) . He still had a first generation thermal imaging device (FLIR) .
- Rafael Litening Generation II
- This is an improved variant for use on F-16C / D of the IASF, which was introduced from 1995.
- Rafael Litening Generation III / Northrop Grumman AN / AAQ-28 (V)
- This is an improved variant for use on American F-16, F-15, B-1, AV-8 and western combat aircraft such as the Eurofighter, Tornado, Gripen and others. This variant was developed in 1995 and then marketed in cooperation with Rafael. A sub-variant has had a third-generation thermal imaging head with a resolution of 640 × 512 pixels and a laser target marker since 2001. This is also known as Litening ER.
- Northrop Grumman AN / AAQ-28 (V) Litening AT
- This variant was introduced in 2003.
- Northrop Grumman AN / AAQ-28 (V) Generation IV
- This latest variant was introduced in 2008. It has a longer detection range.
Carrier platforms
The litening container is mainly carried by modern third-generation combat aircraft for target lighting at a separate external load station .
- Rockwell B-1 B
- Lockheed-Martin F-16 C Block 50 "Fighting Falcon"
- McDonnell Douglas F-4E "Phantom II"
- Grumman F-14 D "SuperTomcat"
- McDonnell Douglas AV-8 B "Harrier II Plus"
- BAe "Harrier" GR.9
- Boeing F-15 E "Strike Eagle"
- McDonnell Douglas F / A-18 C / D "Hornet"
- Boeing F / A-18 E / F "Super Hornet"
- Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27 Flogger
- Saab JAS 39 "Gripen"
- Panavia Tornado IDS
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Fairchild-Republic A-10 C "Thunderbolt" II
Users
- Australia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Denmark
- Germany
- Finland
- Greece
- India
- Indonesia
- Israel
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Colombia
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Romania
- Sweden
- Singapore
- Spain
- South Africa
- Thailand
- Czech Republic
- Hungary
- Venezuela
- United States
- United Kingdom
Web links
Commons : Rafael_LITENING - collection of images, videos and audio files
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Archive link ( Memento from July 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ http://www.es.northropgrumman.com/solutions/litening/index.html .