Lockheed Martin's Sniper pod is majority winner for Advanced Targeting Pod-Sensor Enhancement contract
The US Air Force selected Lockheed Martin as the winner of the 60 percent share of the Advanced Targeting Pod-Sensor Enhancement (ATP-SE) competition. Lockheed Martin's Sniper pod offering was determined to be the best overall value to the US Government.
Under the terms of this contract, the Government has options to buy up to 670 pods through 2017. If all options are exercised, Lockheed Martin's share of the program will total more than $1 billion. The initial contract value is $23.5 million, which will provide pods for the Government's test program.
"Lockheed Martin is proud to remain the US Air Force's targeting pod of choice, and we look forward to fielding Sniper in the ATP-SE configuration to provide even greater capability to the Warfighter," said Tom Simmons, vice president of Fire Control at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
With new enhanced sensors for combat identification and a two-way datalink, Sniper expands non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and net-centric capabilities.
Sniper offers an affordable road map for modernizing and enhancing precision targeting capabilities for US Air Force and coalition partner F-15, F-16, A-10, B-1 and B-52 aircraft. The Sniper pod's hardware and software configuration provides continued "plug-and-play" flexibility across services and multiple platforms. The Sensor Enhancement configuration is a field-level upgrade to existing pods.
Source: Lockheed Martin
More from Defence Notes
-
Companies’ results boom as countries dig deep to buy missiles and air defence systems
Air defence systems are continuing to appear top of countries’ shopping lists but broadly across different capabilities it is a sellers’ market, as demonstrated by backlogs and double-digit percentage point growth.
-
Forging strong partnerships for warfighting communications in space (Studio)
Mike Moran, Director of US Government Business at Amazon Project Kuiper Government Solutions, highlighted the evolution of space as a critical warfighting domain at the Defence in Space Conference (DISC) 2025, held this week in London.
-
Details revealed on Germany’s big spending plans
In May this year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the government plans to position Germany as “Europe's strongest conventional army”. A new blueprint outlines how this is going to occur through massive investment.
-
European Council to deliver at “pace and scale” on European defence readiness 2030 roadmap
Two of the concrete projects outlined in the readiness report, the European Air Shield and Space Shield, will aim to be launched by Q2 2026.
-
Malaysia’s defence budget sets out major procurement goals for 2026
The country has allocated RM21.70 billion for defence spending next year, with some major procurements set to be initiated across the country’s army, navy and air force.
-
GAO highlights the need for more commercial data and availability improvements
The US Government Accountability Office recently released two reports; one into the availability of selected equipment and another looking at how the government gets data and intellectual property rights through contracting.