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Show mop,'--; February 1. 2001 Pod gives pilots further camera light range features: the laser marker and the laser spot tracker. The laser marker is similar to a laser highlighter used in briefings. The marker runs off of a different camera and to use it. the combat laser must be deselected. The laser marks a target with a light source that's detectable with night vision goggles. It's used primarily while working with Forward Air Controllers in the support role as they direct a pilot to a target to ensure precision and avoid dropping on friendlies. When a pilot squeezes the pointer, a green light (visible with night vision goggles) illuminates a target. Ground troops can then relay information to the pilot to ensure the correct target is spotlighted. Brill said adversaries with night vision goggles also by Mary Galbrarth staff Hilltop Times Precision engagement for Air Force Reserve and Guard pilots was increased this summer with the addition of the Litening II Pod. The 419th had enjugh Litening II Pods to check out eight of the pilots before they deployed to Operation Northern Watch in June. Using the technology has become so valuable that Lt. Col. Mike Brill, a 419th Fighter Wing pilot who was one of the first pilots checked out on the pod, has checked out another pilot almost every time he's been in the air. The Litening II pod attaches in the right side of the aircraft inlet. The camera spins on a triple axle, allowing it full range of vision. "What the Litening does, is use eyeballs that work in two different bands. It has the Forward-LookinInfrared like the block 40. But it also has a television camera called a charged-coupledevice CCD," Brill said, adding that through trial and error the Iraqis knew what the FLIR could and could not see through and used the information to disguise weapons and other equipment. The new pod gives pilots an additional camera light range and also has a zoom feature. The Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting for Infrared for Night's only camera works in the infrared light range. While using a band other than visual light helps detect enemy targets that are visually camouflaged (by picking up their heat signature) targets can be camouflaged from the infrared of tree see themselves illuminated, but don't have much time to react. The final feature is a laser spot tracker. Some of the earlier FLIR pods had the tracker, but the LANTIRN was not equipped with it. When a pilot selects the tracker mode, the aircraft's pod locks onto a laser. "If a ground troop had a hand laser designator, they could lock onto a truck in total darkness and I would select this laser search mode and I would look across the ground and lock onto that source," Brill said. "You can also use it between wingmen. If I find a target and I'm out of ordinance, I can lase a target and tell my wingmen to go into this mode and he can lock on." Brill said pilots are most impressed with the CCD g d canopy foliage. "At night we're equal to the LANTIRN, but in day-lig- ht conditions the CCD camera gives us the ability of attacking targets that are discernable through the visual light range," Brill said. The Litening Pod's zoom function works like a telescope, increasing magnification four to five times, which permits pilots to deploy at higher altitudes. Brill said deploying at thousand feet has been popular since Desert Storm, and the zoom capability helps pilots spot the difference between a truck or tank at high altitude. 20-3- 0 L" camera. Although it's limited to daylight, it can double the range of acquiring and locking onto a tar- " J- - get over the infrared camera. Pilots can locate "With the zoom feature, you can count the wheels on a vehicle. For instance, there's a system called a 'Roland,' which looks just like a Winnebago except it has eight wheels. We actually found those systems over there in the theatre because once we zoomed in we could count the eight wheels," he said. Brill noted there are two other significant design and lock onto a target minutes out. Pilots train with the pod at the Utah Test and Training Range, simulating realistic setting and training aviators to locate items difficult to detect. Brill said the new pod is easier to maintain in the field than the LANTIRN pod and the manufacturer has a rapid turn around repair time. Each unit initially received eight Litening II Pods. Brill's unit has 10 and the Air Force Reserve has a total of 32. 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