News Story: Indonesia orders Lockheed sniper pods for F-16s

Lockheed Martin’s Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod
(Image: Wiki Commons)

By: Mike Yeo

MELBOURNE, Australia — Indonesia will acquire Lockheed Martin’s Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod to equip its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets as part of a $10 billion trade and investment agreement signed between the United States and Indonesia. 

The agreement was signed April 21 by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to the Southeast Asian country, according to a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. 

There was no mention of how many pods Indonesia will acquire, although procurement plans from 2014 indicated Indonesia was seeking 16 pods. Lockheed declined to disclose the number of pods and contract value, and both the U.S. State and Defense departments did not respond to a Defense News inquiry. 

The original 2011 Foreign Military Sales request for the regeneration and upgrade of surplus F-16C/Ds (formerly owned by the U.S. Air Force) for Indonesia also did not include the number of pods Indonesia was seeking.  

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