Dutch Air Force to Fly with Litening Pods from Rafael and Northrop Grumman
November 12, 2006 – Haifa -- The Dutch Air Force has decided to equip their F-16s with the Litening AT targeting and navigation pods manufactured by RAFAEL Armament Development Authority Ltd and Northrop Grumman Corporation.
The contract, valued at about $40M, includes the supply of 20 pods and support equipment to be used by both the air and ground crews in the Dutch Air Force.
The Litening is a multi-spectral airborne targeting and navigation pod. It is designed for target illumination to improve day and night attack capabilities using LGB and GPS guided bombs. Litening presents pilots with real-time, Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) imagery. The high sensor resolution enables pilots to reliably identify the combat targets and consequently to avoid collateral damage.
Haim Jacobovitz, Head of the Electro-Optics Directorate at RAFAEL stated that the contract is very important to RAFAEL and Northrop Grumman Corporation and it strengthens Litening's position as the leading targeting and navigation pod in the world. Jacobovitz added that the Litening joins RAFAEL's RecceLite Reconnaissance Pod that was purchased several months ago by the Dutch Air Force.
Over 700 Litening pods are operational in many air forces around the world; among them the Israeli Air Force on the F-16I and F-16C and the US, Australian and Hungarian Air Forces. The Litening has also been integrated on the German Tornado and is in the process of being integrated onto the Eurofighters.
RAFAEL and Northrop Grumman will begin supplying the Litening pods in 2007 with the intention of completing the order in 2008.
About RAFAEL
RAFAEL designs, develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of advanced defense systems. These leading edge products include naval, air and ground precision weapons, electro-optic systems, electronic warfare (EW) systems, Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) systems, acoustic defense systems, armored protection and training systems.
Contact -Mr. Amit Zimmer – Corporate Spokesman
Tel: +972-3-572-4710 amitz@rafael.co.il
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