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Aircraft Special Purpose Pods

Special Purpose Pod Contract Awards - Past and Present

Sargent Fletcher designs, manufactures, integrates, and delivers various pods for a variety of aircraft applications.  These pods are designed to carry payloads to perform specific functions.  Since the start of building specialized aircraft captive carry pods in the 1960s, Sargent Fletcher has built over 1000 pods with functions covering Reconnaissance, Jamming, Data Link, Instrumentation, Electro Optical, and a host of other functions.  A list of various pods developed by Sargent Fletcher can be viewed by Clicking Here.  Four of the most recent Sargent Fletcher pods are the Airborne Laser, AN/ALQ-164, Data Link Pod, and the LITE Pod.  These pods are described below.

Airborne Laser

Sargent Fletcher has been awarded a contract from Boeing Space and Communication Group for the development, supply, and support of a key component for the ABL (YAL-1A Attack Laser).  The YAL-1A is a high-energy laser carried aboard a modified Boeing 747-400 freighter, capable of shooting down theater ballistic missiles launched hundreds of miles away.  Sargent Fletcher is providing the Pod/Pylon combination that is to be mounted on the top of the Boeing 747-400 aircraft fuselage just aft of the cockpit.  The Pod/Pylon will house the LANTIRN Laser Range Finder that will be used to locate and determine the distance to targets.

AN/ALQ-164

Sargent Fletcher completed a developmental contract with Lockheed Sanders to design and fabricate electronic pods containing ECM equipment.  This electronic pod was flight tested and qualified on a United States Marine Corp (USMC) AV-8B Harrier.  Sargent Fletcher has since been awarded and has delivered 96 follow-on Pods.  Thirteen of these Sargent Fletcher designed pods were delivered to Lockheed Sanders and the U.S. Navy on time and on budget in fiscal year 1998.

Data Link Pod

Sargent Fletcher just completed a one-year contract to deliver 4 Data Link Pods, and has recently been awarded a follow on contract for 10 more Data Link Pods, from British Aerospace, for the F/A-18 Centerline ATARS Data Link Pod.

Sargent Fletcher has also been awarded an Advanced Reconnaissance Pod (ARP) contract, from British Aerospace, for the Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance System (AARS) that is targeted for use on F-16, F/A-18, F-111C/G, Eurofighter, Gripen, Jaguar, Global Hawk UAV, and maritime patrol aircraft.  The ARP is a stretched derivative of the Data Link Pod.  Both pod contracts involve providing the environmental control system, pod enclosure, radome, ducting, and wire harnesses.

LITE Pod

As role requirements continually expand and change for existing airframes, Sargent Fletcher constantly searches for ways to develop enclosures to carry electronic payloads, or to combine fuel and electronic payloads in a single, external structure.  Of the many Sargent Fletcher Special Purpose Pods, one example is the Sargent Fletcher LITE pod.  The LITE pod uses a modified F-5 275-gallon external fuel tank to house a targeting/navigation capability, along with a 150-gallon fuel payload.  The LITE pod provides dual capability on a single weapons station.

Special Purpose Pod Informational Flyers

Special Purpose Pod Press Releases