FILAT (Forward-looking Infrared and Laser Attack Targeting) pod is an airborne attack pod designed to provide aircraft with all weather / night attack capabilities. It was first revealed to the public at 1998 Zhuhai Air Show, and it is designed by the 613 Institute of AVIC.
FILAT pod is the Chinese equivalent of the AN/AAQ-14 targeting pod of the LANTIRN system,[1] and several derivatives have already been developed since its public debut. The Chinese government has acknowledged that FILAT pod is based on the experience of the following three western targeting pods: LANTIRN, TIALD and LITENING targeting pods. Although the Chinese government has not mentioned how LANTIRN and TIALD systems had fallen into the Chinese hands, western sources have reported that China had obtained the systems from downed allied aircraft via Iraq during the Gulf War. The structure of FILAT pod is similar to most targeting pods, consisting laser designator, FLIR, and CCD. Just like the AN/AAQ-20 Sharpshooter targeting pod, a simplified AN/AAQ-14 developed as a cheaper alternative, a similar cheaper alternative for FILAT has also been developed, but the designation is unknown and despite active marketing efforts, no sales have been reported. Some domestic Chinese sources have claimed that it is possible that this simplified version was developed as a backup should the more ambitious and technically challenging FILAT had failed, but such claims have yet to be verified. Features of the 1st generation FILAT pod include:
- Built –in-test (BITE) function
- Open architecture software programming
- Modular design of the hardware.
- Compatibility with MIL-STD-1553B standard
- Option to upgrade to MIL-STD-1773 STD compatibility
On September 21, 2005, the 613 Institute of AVIC debuted the 2nd generation FILAT pod that has already been in Chinese service during Beijing International Air Show. The 2nd generation FILAT utilizes a new focal array and increased its air-to-air capability. However, the developer admitted that the MTBF rate is still much lower than the 662 hours of Lockheed Martin Sniper XR and the operation life is also much lower than the 10,000 hours of Lockheed Martin Sniper XR, though the actual numbers were not given. At the 6th Zhuhai Airshow in 2006, the 3rd generation of FILAT was debuted and for security reasons, very little information was released except that newer microelectronics have been used to improve reliability and other performance parameters.
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The original article can be found at FILAT and the edit history here.