The Air Force and Lockheed Martin have successfully completed site activations for the Sniper targeting pod with A-10C units at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., and Spangdahlem AB, Germany, the company announced June 3. Further, site activation work is scheduled to continue this summer at Moody AFB, Ga., Lockheed said. The Sniper site activation process involves pod installation, maintenance, and aircrew training. It is meant to ensure that the maintainers are prepared to support the system fully in theater and that the aircrews are proficient with operating the pod and understanding its capabilities. Lt. Col. Michael Millen, commander of Davis-Monthan’s 354th Fighter Squadron, said the Sniper represents “a significant improvement in combat capability,” With it, the A-10Cs have “a quantum leap” in their ability to locate, identify, track, and defeat targets, he said, calling the A-10C and Sniper “an incredibly lethal combination.” Air Force F-16s and F-15Es carry the advanced pod and have used them in combat. So have B-1B bombers.
Due to the prolonged delay in deliveries of the Tech Refresh 3 version of the F-35 fighter, Denmark is pulling six of its TR-2-configured F-35 jets stationed in the U.S. back to home base in order to consolidate aircraft and get better training for its pilots and maintainers, the Danish…