AN/AVQ-26 PAVE Track Pod (648449)
1:48 Eduard Brassin
The Pave track pod was developed for the US Air Force by Ford Aerospace. It is an electo optical targeting pod. It uses forward looking infra red to find the target and a laser to designate it for laser guided weapons. The sight picture from the POD is fed back into the aircraft to a cockpit display. The head with the sensor rotates to hide the sensors when not in use. While it was developed in the 1970s it only became widely available in the 1980s. It was first used in operations against Libya and the in Gulf War I. This version is of the pod is one used on the F-4 as opposed to the semi recessed one used on the F-111. Due to its size crews referred to t as PAVE DRAG. As well as the USAF the Korean Air Force also used the pod on their Phantoms.
The pod comes as three resin parts with an additional mounting pylon. A sheet of decals is also included. All part are cast to Eduard's high standards.
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