Pod turns pilots into Iraq 'beat cops'

"Pod turns pilots into Iraq 'beat cops'
WASHINGTON, June 30 (UPI) -- It turns out one of the best methods of finding roadside bombs in Iraq may be U.S. Air Force pilots. Pilots recently returned from four months in Iraq say a new targeting pod -- an optical camera and infrared sensor housed in a long tube affixed under the wing of an F-15E -- built by Lockheed Martin dramatically improved their ability to help troops on the ground.
The Air Force has been largely sidelined in the war in Iraq. Fighting a counterinsurgency requires boots on the ground more than it does bombs on target. Indeed, the entire 494th Fighter Squadron based at Lakenheath, Britain, dropped just eight bombs over the course of 120 days in Iraq, said its commander Lt. Col. Daniel Debree. But the F-15E squadron ran 787 reconnaissance missions over the heads of soldiers and Marines from January to May. The Sniper pod, which is still in operational testing, empowered Air Force pilots to serve as "beat cops" -- scanning terrain around U.S. troops to look for tell-tale signs of dug in or hidden improvised explosive devices and fleeing fighters. Roadside bombs and car bombs now inflict about 70 percent of the injuries and deaths on U.S. forces in Iraq."
RantBurg

The last post on this pod technology.