F-15C IRST system will be Lockheed Martin Legion Pod

F-15C IRST SYSTEM WILL BE LOCKHEED MARTIN LEGION POD

By Dario Leone
Sep 21 2017
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Lockheed Martin will deliver its first Legion Pod for the program in 2018, with additional deliveries planned for 2019

Boeing has selected Lockheed Martin’s Legion Pod as the Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system for the U.S. Air Force’s F-15C fleet.

An engineering, manufacturing, development and production contract for Legion Pod will be awarded by Boeing in 2018.

Lockheed Martin will produce more than 130 systems, which will be delivered for aircraft integration. Equipped with the company’s IRST21 infrared sensor and advanced data processing capabilities, Legion Pod provides long-range detection and tracking of airborne threats in radar-denied environments.

F-15C IRST system will be Lockheed Martin Legion Pod
Lockheed Martin’s Legion Pod has been selected as the Infrared Search and Track system for the U.S. Air Force’s F-15C fleet. (PRNewsfoto/Lockheed Martin)

“With a rapid delivery schedule and unmatched sensing capabilities, Legion Pod will immediately enhance our warfighters’ operations and address a passive attack capability gap,” said Paul Lemmo, vice president of Fire Control/Special Operations Forces Contractor Logistics Support Services at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in a company news release. “Our proven partnerships with Boeing, including on our U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F IRST21 and international F-15 IRST products, will ensure successful execution of the F-15C Legion Pod program for the U.S. Air Force.”

Lockheed Martin will deliver its first Legion Pod for the program in 2018, with additional deliveries planned for 2019. The company previously completed more than 25 flight tests with Legion Pod on the F-15C and F-16, successfully demonstrating its integration, detection and tracking capabilities.

F-15C print
This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. F-15C Eagle 144th Fighter Wing, 194th Fighter Squadron, CA/80-004 – California Air National Guard – Fresno ANG Base, CA – 2016

Noteworthy as we have already explained U.S. Air National Guard F-15Cs already carry Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod which is part of the Passive Attack Sensor (PAS) modification.

The Sniper brings a lot of capability enhancements to the “Light Gray” (as the F-15C is dubbed by its aircrews). Actually as Lt. Col. Rob “Tigger” Swertfager, a 194th FS Eagle driver, told to Frank Crébas and Rich Cooper in the December 2016 issue of Combat Aircraft Monthly magazine the Sniper “is an amazing addition for us, in particular for our alert mission. It allows us to visual-identify (VID) aircraft at a distance and it provides a quick reconnaissance capability to the governor of California for our state mission.”

F-15C IRST system will be Lockheed Martin Legion Pod

In fact the pod is a very useful tool not only for combat missions, as Swertfager explains. “For example, during an earthquake we have damage on a dam somewhere, we have the ability to scramble our F-15s and, using the new mod, quickly assess damage.”

Photo credit: Lockheed Martin, Senior Airman Trevor T. McBride and Senior Master Sgt. Shelly Davison, 142nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs / U.S. Air National Guard

Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com


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Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

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