Boeing lands $208M order for F-15C Legion Pod production.

Boeing has been awarded a US$208 million US Air Force contract for F-15 Legion Pod infrared search-and-track (IRST) pods, the US Department of Defense announced on August 24, 2018.

Lockheed Martin’s Legion Pod fitted on an F-15C aircraft
(Credit: Lockheed Martin)

Announced earlier this year, "This contract provides for engineering, manufacturing, and development, production, integration, testing and deployment of F-15 Legion Pod IRST Pods.  Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri; and Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2020," the Pentagon said.

Boeing will act as prime contractor with its parner, Lockheed Martin, which developed the pod. Legion Pod was selected as the Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system for the U.S. Air Force's F-15C fleet in September 2017. According to the defense giant, the company will produce more than 130 systems, which will be delivered for aircraft integration.

First flight test of the Legion pod with a US Air Force F-15C occured in September 2016.

Equipped with the company's IRST21 infrared sensor and advanced data processing capabilities, Legion Pod provides long-range detection and tracking of airborne threats in radar-denied environments. Legion Pod is available to meet the requirements of the U.S. Air Force's F-15C infrared search and track program of record, which include long-range detection and tracking in a wide field of view. Legion Pod also offers a variety of capabilities for other fighter and non-fighter aircraft.