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TIALD, the Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator
Laser designator

A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to illuminate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, Lockheed-Martin's AGM-114, or the M712 Copperhead round, respectively....
 pod, is manufactured by SELEX Galileo and is the UK's laser designator for laser-guided bomb
Laser-guided bomb

A laser-guided bomb is a precision-guided munition that uses semi-active laser homing to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than a free-fall bomb....
s.

The UK uses the Paveway
Paveway

Paveway is a trademark of Raytheon Company which identifies its variants of Laser-guided bomb . Lockheed Martin became a second source supplier of LGBs in 2001....
 series of laser guided bombs (LGBs.) The first operational use of LGBs by the UK's armed forces were the RAF
Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts....
 Harrier attacks on Argentine
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
 forces during the Falklands War
Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands....
. However laser designation for these attacks was carried out by a forward air controller using a ground designator.






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TIALD, the Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator
Laser designator

A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to illuminate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, Lockheed-Martin's AGM-114, or the M712 Copperhead round, respectively....
 pod, is manufactured by SELEX Galileo and is the UK's laser designator for laser-guided bomb
Laser-guided bomb

A laser-guided bomb is a precision-guided munition that uses semi-active laser homing to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than a free-fall bomb....
s.

The UK uses the Paveway
Paveway

Paveway is a trademark of Raytheon Company which identifies its variants of Laser-guided bomb . Lockheed Martin became a second source supplier of LGBs in 2001....
 series of laser guided bombs (LGBs.) The first operational use of LGBs by the UK's armed forces were the RAF
Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts....
 Harrier attacks on Argentine
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
 forces during the Falklands War
Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands....
. However laser designation for these attacks was carried out by a forward air controller using a ground designator. Following the conflict it was realised that an airborne designator was required.

GEC-Marconi
Marconi Electronic Systems

Marconi Electronic Systems , or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of The General Electric Company . It was demerged from GEC and acquired by British Aerospace on November 30 1999 to form BAE Systems....
 started development of the TIALD pod in the late 1980s. The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the resulting Gulf War
Gulf War

"Persian Gulf War" and "First Gulf War" redirect here. For other uses, see Persian Gulf War .The Persian Gulf War was a United Nations-authorized military conflict between Iraq and a Coalition of Gulf War from 34 nations commissioned with expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait of Kuwait in August 1990....
 saw the TIALD pod rushed into service. In the Gulf War several modified Panavia Tornado
Panavia Tornado

The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine combat aircraft, which was jointly developed by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy. There are three primary Panavia Tornado variants of the Tornado; the Tornado IDS Ground attack aircraft, the electronic warfare Tornado ECR and the Panavia Tornado ADV Interceptor aircraft....
s and some Blackburn Buccaneer
Blackburn Buccaneer

The Blackburn Buccaneer was a United Kingdom low level strike aircraft serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft it was later known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer when Blackburn became a part of the Hawker Siddeley group....
s laser designated for non-modified Tornados which carried LGBs. The Buccaneers carried the Pave Spike
Pave Spike

The Westinghouse Electric Corporation AN/ASQ-153AN/AVQ-23 Pave Spike is an electro-optical laser designator pod used to direct laser-guided bombs to target in daylight, visual conditions....
 designator, which was less capable and limited to daylight. The RAF dropped over 6,000 1,000lb bombs, 1,000 of which were laser guided. Two TIALD-equipped Tornados guided more than 200 LGBs onto targets in the last month of the conflict alone. Further development of the pod enabled aircraft to self-designate targets. The TIALD pod has been used extensively since the Gulf War including during the Iraqi no-fly zone
Iraqi no-fly zones

The Iraqi no-fly zones are two separate no-fly zones , and were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom and France after the Gulf War to protect humanitarian operations in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south....
 patrols (1991-2003,) the related Operation Desert Fox
Operation Desert Fox

The December 1998 bombing of Iraq was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from December 16?19, 1998 by the United States and United Kingdom....
 (1998,) the Kosovo War
Kosovo War

Kosovo War occurred after the Rambouillet Agreement failed in February 1999. The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts in Kosovo:...
 (1999) and the 2003 Iraq Conflict
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
.

The TIALD pod has been constantly updated, the current version of which is the Series-400 fitted to the Tornado GR4. The UK is studying a next generation designator pod, possibly in collaboration with other European countries.

While the laser-guided bomb remains a key weapon in the UK's arsenal, recent developments have seen its importance diminished. The introduction of the Storm Shadow
Storm Shadow

Storm Shadow is an United Kingdom-France-Italy air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by MBDA and used by France, Italy and the United Kingdom....
 missile gives the RAF a stand-off attack capability, reducing the danger to both aircraft and crew. The UK has committed to the Enhanced Paveway, which incorporates GPS guidance, reducing the effect that poor weather or smoke has on accuracy.