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FARNBOROUGH—Lockheed Martin is targeting a 2027 production start for its latest Sniper targeting pod, designed to improve network connectivity between fourth-generation fighters, the F-35 and future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).

The Sniper Networked Targeting Pod (NTP) upgrades the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod with data cards enabling communications over the Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) and the Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET).

Paul Schulze, Lockheed Martin's director of Sniper international business development, said the upgrade was driven by Link 16 latency and the need to improve communications between the F-35, fourth-generation fighters and ground stations.

Schulze said flight testing is underway while Lockheed redesigns the pod's chassis to accommodate the new data cards. Once production begins in 2027, the Sniper NTP will become the only production variant.

“The need exists. It's real,” Schulze said at the Farnborough International Airshow. “There's a latency in data transmission on the Link 16 network.”

He described the F-35 as the “centerpiece of the communications network,” adding that integrating MADL and MANET into the Sniper pod will expand network coverage. “If I put it in the simplest terms, I'm adding another cell tower into the cell network,” he said.

Looking ahead, Lockheed envisions the Sniper NTP enhancing connectivity between crewed fighters and future CCAs, including the company's Vectis design, provided those aircraft use the same communications networks.