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
-
![Eurosatory 2026: Partnership deals surge as industry prepares for defence spending growth]()
Eurosatory 2026: Partnership deals surge as industry prepares for defence spending growth
Dozens of partnership agreements, joint ventures and industrial cooperation arrangements were announced at Eurosatory 2026, highlighting how defence companies are expanding production capacity, localising manufacturing and accelerating capability development in anticipation of rising defence spending.
-
![Eurosatory 2026: New public security needs drive personal protection equipment modernisation]()
Eurosatory 2026: New public security needs drive personal protection equipment modernisation
European law enforcement and public security agencies are entering a new cycle of investment in personal protection equipment (PPE), driven by evolving threat profiles, officer welfare requirements and advances in materials technology.
-
![The speed of relevance: how companies can navigate the new era of European defence procurement]()
The speed of relevance: how companies can navigate the new era of European defence procurement
European militaries face a rapidly evolving security landscape and defence production must accelerate to meet surging demand for platforms and equipment. Industry needs to adapt to ensure it gets its products into the hands of the end user, Evelyn Rafferty, Senior Director Aerospace and Defence - Europe at Plexus told Shephard’s Gerrard Cowan.
-
![Eurosatory 2026: Milrem Robotics puts forward multi-layered defence concept for NATO’s eastern flank]()
Eurosatory 2026: Milrem Robotics puts forward multi-layered defence concept for NATO’s eastern flank
Autonomous systems developer Milrem has evolved a model for an interoperable robotised approach to the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI), showing how uncrewed systems could provide a multi-layered defence architecture in the air and on land along NATO’s eastern borders.
-
![Eurosatory 2026 to highlight changing defence and security priorities]()
Eurosatory 2026 to highlight changing defence and security priorities
Eurosatory 2026 will reflect a defence and security sector shaped by conflict, rising government spending, uncrewed systems, multidomain networks and growing demand for sovereign capabilities.
-
![Delays, departures and drama cloud UK defence programmes ahead of absent DIP]()
Delays, departures and drama cloud UK defence programmes ahead of absent DIP
The UK defence secretary’s departure suggests that the long-delayed Defence Investment Plan is unlikely to meet the funding demands of the armed forces, with consequences for procurement and the UK’s standing at a NATO summit weeks away.
