The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA,) recently contracted Danish defense company Terma for the delivery of new and upgraded pylons for US National Air Guard F-16 aircraft.
The contract has an estimated value of 74 million euros (approx. $84m) and includes the delivery of the “pylon integrated dispensing system universal” (PIDSU), EW core pylons with provisions for future missile warning system installation, flare-up kits and test adapters.
The expected five years delivery period will start late 2020.
The US ANG PIDSU and EW core pylon configuration is the most advanced variant as both left- and right-hand pylons are equipped with three chaff/flare dispenser magazines.
This was made possible by introducing a new variant of the Terma digital sequencer switch which allows installation of the additional dispenser magazine. Once implemented all the existing and new ANG Terma-pylons will feature flare dispense and EW core pylons will even have all hardware for smart dispense of e.g. expendable active decoys and multi-shot flares.
The threat scenario, especially when operating from deployed bases, is shifting towards increased IR threats – not least MANPADs. The PIDS was originally designed for chaff dispense, but a flare dispenser modification kit (flare-up) comprising special magazines and a modified breech plate will allow dispense of flares from the PIDS versions.
“This program will potentially pave the way for additional export contracts from other F-16 countries. The European F-16’s are already equipped with PIDS+,” business development director John Rygaard said.
