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The Royal Danish Air Force still flies 30 F-16AM/BMs, improved to Mid-Life Upgrade standard. They’ve traditionally relied on Lockheed Martin’s AAQ-13/AAQ-14 pair of LANTIRN navigation and targeting pods, and a major upgrade was ordered in 2006. The RDAF possesses 16 LANTIRN-ER sets.
Danish fighters punch above their numbers on international missions, and in 2012, the Danes committed to a more modern solution for their frequent deployments. Lockheed Martin’s AAQ-33 Sniper pods were an obvious option, but the Dutch picked Northrop Grumman’s popular AAQ-28 LITENING pod instead, becoming the 1st export customer for Northrop Grumman’s modern G4 variant.
Nov 11/13: Delivery. After a 2-week flight test evaluation program of 25 sorties to verified the LITENING G4’s performance, the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) issues a certificate of acceptance for the initial delivery of 6 LITENING G4 pods and associated purchases, with additional systems to follow over the next 2 months. Sources: Northrop Grumman, Nov 11/13 release.
June 25/12: LITENING G4 wins. The Danish Ministry of Defence officially picks Northrop Grumman’s LITENING G4 as its F-16 fleet’s next-generation surveillance and targeting pod. Under the terms of the contract with the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization, Northrop Grumman will supply LITENING G4 pods, data links, spares, support equipment, training and associated support. Deliveries will begin in August 2013. Sources: Northrop Grumman, June 25/12 release.
Denmark orders G4s
