TSAMTO, August 29. Apparently, the Nigerian Air Force has received ASELPOD container targeting systems developed by the Turkish company Aselsan for JF-17 "Thunder" fighters.
As reported by Janes.com The Nigerian Air Force's JF-17 "Thunder" multirole fighter was recently spotted with a hanging container similar to the Turkish ASELPOD. In a short video posted on social networks on August 14, a Nigerian JF-17 with the number 720 was shown taxiing with a dark gray gondola on a central suspension.
The Chinese equivalent of the WMD-7, which is also integrated with the JF-17, has a smaller air intake.
It is most likely that the contract is being implemented through the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (RAS) in Kamra, which supplied the Nigerian Air Force with JF-17 fighters, and also carried out the integration of ASELPOD.
As TSAMTO has already reported, the Turkish company Aselsan successfully integrated the ASELPOD container targeting system on board the JF-17 Thunder fighter of the Pakistan Air Force in 2018. The integration was carried out under a contract from 2016, providing for the purchase of at least eight ASELPOD systems by the Pakistani Air Force for almost $25 million.
In particular, Aselsan signed the first export contract for the supply of ASELPOD systems for the JF-17 Thunder with Pakistan in June 2016. In May 2017, Aselsan announced the signing of a second contract with Pakistan for the supply of ASELPOD systems designed to equip fighter aircraft. The cost of this sale was $24.9 million.
As reported in a message posted by Aselsan on the public disclosure portal, the Pakistani Air Force has placed an order for the supply of 16 ASELPOD container systems.
R&D on the ASELPOD project was started by Aselsan in mid-2006 after receiving a contract worth $51 million to develop a replacement for the low-altitude infrared sighting and navigation system AN/AAQ-14 LANTIRN.
The weight of the ASELPOD is 235 kg. The container aiming system is equipped with high-resolution cameras (daytime and infrared), a dual-band laser range finder, a laser target illumination system, a laser pointer, as well as a recording device with a capacity of 128 GB.
The containers were previously integrated on board the F-16 and F-4 fighters of the Turkish Air Force.
