Forum: F-16 Armament & Stores

OK, I'm familiar with the ALQ-131 and the ALQ-184 on centerline mounts, but this is really all I'm familiar with, soooo:

1. Can the ALQ-131/184 mount under the wings, and if so, what hard-points are wired?

2. Can the older pods, the ALQ-119 and ALQ-101, mount to any stations on the F-16 wings or centerline?

3. Going back even older than this, I'm curious of any of the ALQ-71, ALQ-87, or QRC-335 pods were ever fitted to F-16s?

Yes, I know the ALQ-101 is old, and the 71/87/335 are utterly ancient, but I'm sure that some F-16 users out there, or maybe ANG, must have had both the pods and jets on hand at one place or another?

Oh, and lastly, can the jet handle more than one pod at a time, and is there any benefit to doing this? I know that some F-4 Phantoms used to phly with two pods, IIRC, Ritchie & DeBellevue got his 3rd and 4th kills in an F-4E that had an ALQ-87 under the AIM-9s on one wing, and an ALQ-101 under the AIM-9s on the other wing. I'm curious if modern pods are still operated in pairs, or if this is something that's gone out of style?

Thanks guys!

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Nobody?

people tend to avoid questions about ECM on here. just saying...

Well, some of these Q's can be answered without breacking OPSEC;

Yes, you can carry ECM pods on station 3, 5 and 7 on the Viper. It is not common to carry more than one, as it takes up station intended for weapons.
Usually, wing pylons are only used when the CL is taken by the 300 gallon tank - ferry purposes only.

Doesn't matter if it is ALQ-131, 184 or 119 - they can be carried by any of the station mentioned. The only leftover of the "old" pods are the ALQ-188 - I think this is a modified version of the ALQ-71 but you'll have to google that one, or try reading up on it here;
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/
As for the older pods - they have not been used other than maybe training units. The modern day Air Force - regardless of nation, ANG, AFRC or Navy carry the latest versions.

So, this should get you a fair bit on the way, however don't expect much more replies, as these questions tend to quickly border on what can be spoken openly and what's classified. Beeing a low-poster aswell, makes the users of this forum even more sceptical aswell Wink

Boman wrote:

Yes, you can carry ECM pods on station 3, 5 and 7 on the Viper. It is not common to carry more than one, as it takes up station intended for weapons.
Usually, wing pylons are only used when the CL is taken by the 300 gallon tank - ferry purposes only.

(Snip)

Beeing a low-poster aswell, makes the users of this forum even more sceptical aswell Wink

Ok, so when you say ferry purposes only, you mean that the pod is not usable, it's just hung on the jet, or that they only fly them there when transferring the pods on the jets?

As for the multiple pods, I think I found my answer to that elsewhere, apparently the older types were noise jammer pods only, while the newer ones were deceptive jammers. Carrying the combination of pods gave them some more versatility, and in the case of the F-4's operating in fighter roles, the pylons the pods were hung from wouldn't be used for A-A weapons anyway, and not A-G weapons were carried.

Sorry about the low post count, I'm pretty sure I registered here a long time back but never got around to posting anything.

They only carry the ECM pods on the wingstations as the centerline is occupied by fuel tank.

Don't worry about the low post count - it will increase in time. Just understand that there has been cases of suspect persons appearing here, asking questions that cannot be answered without violating OPSEC rules. A newtimer asking very sensitive questions in their first few posts can be troublesome sometimes - not saying that you are, only that suspicion arise. Therefore be careful about what you ask, or atleast be forewarned that the answer may be covered by OPSEC rules Wink

Forum: F-16 Armament & Stores

ECM Pods