Janes aircraft recognition guide has a picture of this plane on the Lear 35 page. Does it have missiles on it or is this some special modification?
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asked Apr 1, 2014 at 0:02
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$\begingroup$ Further photos on airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=N83FN have more comments, one of which say "30 year old Lear loaded with ACM pods to simulate fighter/missile attacks on surface ships". $\endgroup$– Greg HewgillApr 1, 2014 at 0:29
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2 Answers
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No, it's not a missile, it's a towed target:
Towed targets are used for electronic warfare and gunnery training. The can serve as a radar target or visual target during military exercises.
The 'missile' is on a long cord and can be reeled from the aircraft. The pod that you see here is a MTR-101 reeling system with the capability to drag the target up to 30,000 ft behind the aircraft.
If you are interested in flying these kind of missions, it seems L3 is looking for a new First Officer for their Learjets.
answered Apr 1, 2014 at 5:06
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$\begingroup$ This raises the further question "Do aircraft towing targets ever get shot down?" or are we just talking about targeting practice as opposed to target practice. $\endgroup$– user5505Jan 12, 2020 at 15:20
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Apparently yes. Googling for the tail number turns up more pictures, as well as comments saying this particular plane is "used to simulate missile attacks".
Here is the owning company, a defense contractor that among other things provides simulated air attacks for training exercises.
answered Apr 1, 2014 at 0:27
hmakholm left over Monicahmakholm left over Monica
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5$\begingroup$ uh, no. The word SIMULATED says it all. They're not missiles. $\endgroup$– jwentingApr 2, 2014 at 7:29