TARPS

The Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) is a large and sophisticated camera pod carried by the F-14 Tomcat. It contains three camera bays with different type cameras which are pointed down at passing terrain. It was originally designed to provide an interim aerial reconnaissance capability until a dedicated F/A-18 Reconnaissance version could be fielded. However, it was pressed into service upon arrival in the fleet and was still in use up to the end of Tomcat service in 2006.

The pod itself is 17 feet (5.2 m) long, and weighs 1,850 lb (840 kg). and is carried on the starboard side of the tunnel between the engine nacelles. The F-14A and F-14B Tomcats had to be specially modified to carry the TARPS pod which involved routing of control wiring from the rear cockpit and environmental control system (ECS) connections to the pod. Standard allowance was at least three TARPS aircraft per designated squadron (only one per airwing). All F-14Ds were modified to be TARPS capable, which allowed greater flexibility in scheduling aircraft and conducting maintenance. A control panel is fitted to the rear cockpit and the RIO has total control over pod operation except for a pilot controlled button that can activate cameras as selected by the RIO (but seldom used).

Each of the camera bays was designed to carry different cameras for specific tasks on reconnaissance missions. The forward bay held a 6" focal length serial frame camera (KS-87) on a two position rotating mount which could direct the camera's view straight down or be moved to a 45 degree angle for a forward oblique view. The second bay or middle bay of the TARPS pod originally held the 9" focal length KA-99 panoramic camera which rotated from horizon to horizon and could be used for side oblique photography. Each image in the wide field of view position produced a 36" negative. The KA-99 could carry up to 2,000 feet (610 m) of film that could be exhausted if not managed carefully by the RIO. The third camera bay held an infrared line scanner camera used for night missions or daylight mission traces. All TARPS cameras were monitored by a device call a CIPDU in the tail cone section of the pod that provided camera status to maintenance personnel and during flight provided aircraft position data onto the camera imagery for intel analysis. An electrical umbilical cord connected the pod to the control panel that was positioned on the left side of the rear cockpit. A hose from the ECS from the F-14 cooled/heated the internals of the pod in flight and kept the appropriate humidity levels constant. In 1987 VF-111 was the first squadron to deploy with a KS-153 camera system in bay two. The KS-153 used a 24" lens and was used for stand-off photography in the Persian Gulf. During Operation Desert Shield the KS-153 was used to monitor the no fly zones in Iraq.

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Wikipedia