• A 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron aircraft maintainer points at the Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod attached to the B-1B Lancer alongside British-American Committee members at RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, Oct. 14, 2021. The ATP is the most widely fielded combat-tested targeting pod employed today. Credit: US Air Force/Airman 1st Class Josiah Brown
    A 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron aircraft maintainer points at the Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod attached to the B-1B Lancer alongside British-American Committee members at RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, Oct. 14, 2021. The ATP is the most widely fielded combat-tested targeting pod employed today. Credit: US Air Force/Airman 1st Class Josiah Brown
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Malaysia’s Hornets to receive new targeting pods

By Micah Young | Brisbane | 14 May 2024
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The US State Department has approved a request from Malaysia to acquire Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods and related equipment, according to a notification from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) released on 6 May.

Malaysia has requested to buy ten AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods under a Foreign Military Sales package which includes technical data and publications, personnel training, software and training equipment, and other related logistics and program support services for an estimated total cost is US$80 million (A$120.6 m).

The DSCA notification says the proposed sale will improve Malaysia’s capability to meet current and future threats by modernising its current F/A-18D platform with a common targeting pod.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) currently flies eight Boeing F/A-18D Hornet multi-role fighters with 18 Squadron based at RMAF Butterworth. The fleet was originally acquired in 1997.

Malaysia’s Hornets have recently been upgraded with improvements including the integration of the Joint Helmet Cueing System, AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile and satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions as well as the addition of the Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) pod.

It has been reported that RMAF officials will be travelling to Kuwait in June 2024 to look at buying part of the emirate’s fleet of 40 F/A-18C single-seaters and F/A-18Ds being disposed of as it takes delivery of 28 Eurofighter Typhoons and a similar number of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters.

Malaysia is also buying South Korea’s KAI FA-50 light attack aircraft, which can also use the Sniper targeting pod. The southeast Asian country will take delivery of 18 FA-50s beginning in 2026.

The RMAF also operates a similar number of the Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKM Flanker multirole strike aircraft, which are fitted with Western avionics, including the French Damocles targeting pod.

The RMAF has also modified its Flankers to drop Western ordnance, having utilised the GBU-12 laser guided bomb from the Su-30MKM as far back as 2017.

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