Lockheed Martin to upgrade Pakistan's F-16 fleet

Contract includes upgrade of Pakistan’s existing 22 Sniper ATPs as well as the production of 15 new Sniper ATPs

Pakistan Air Force has sent a follow-on foreign military sale contract to Lockheed Martin to produce and upgrade Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP) for its F-16 fleet.

The contract includes the upgrade of Pakistan’s existing 22 Sniper ATPs as well as the production of 15 new Sniper ATPs.

Read: F-35 fighter loses dogfight to 1970s F-16 jet

Delivery will begin late in 2015 to satisfy Pakistan’s urgent operational needs. Upgrades will also begin in late 2015 and they will increase compatibility with the aircraft and enable enhanced features.

"Sniper ATP has supported the Pakistan Air Force's mission since 2010," said Rich Lovette, Sniper international programme director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Additional Sniper ATPs and upgrades will give the Pakistan Air Force a more robust precision targetting capability to support the nation's security requirements."

Read: Air Force: Pakistan, Turkey sign MoU for training pilots

Sniper ATP enables pilots to have high-resolution imagery for precision targetting, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It also detects, identifies, automatically tracks and laser designates small tactical targets at long ranges. Apart from that, it also enables the use of all laser and GPS-guided weapons against various fixed and moving targets.

Further, Sniper ATP can be operated on multiple platforms, including US Air Force and multi-national F-15, F-16, F-18, A-10, B-1 and B-52 aircraft.

This article originally appeared on Market Watch