Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS)

U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Brian Fleske. (000304-N-0507F-005)

The Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System, or TARPS, was developed to provide carrier air wings with an organic tactical reconnaissance capability as dedicated aircraft such as the RA-5C Vigilante and RF-8G Crusader were withdrawn from service. Entering fleet service in the early 1980s, TARPS allowed modified F-14s to perform photographic reconnaissance, mapping, maritime surveillance, and pre- and post-strike damage assessment.

The TARPS pod is carried on weapons station 5, on the starboard side of the tunnel between the engine nacelles. It contains three sensor bays. The forward bay houses a KS-87 serial frame camera configured for either vertical or 45° forward-oblique photography. The center bay normally contains a KA-99 panoramic camera providing wide, horizon-to-horizon coverage, while the aft bay houses an AN/AAD-5 infrared line scanner for night and reduced-visibility reconnaissance. Aircraft position and flight information are recorded alongside the imagery to assist with its interpretation after the mission.

The TARPS is operated primarily by the RIO using a dedicated control panel, while the pilot flies the planned reconnaissance run and can also initiate camera operation when configured. Unlike the TCS, the original TARPS was principally a film-based recording system and did not provide a live sensor image on the TID or VDI. The exposed film was removed and processed after recovery for analysis by intelligence personnel.

TARPS missions frequently required the aircraft to fly predictable routes over or near defended territory while maintaining the altitude, heading, and attitude needed to obtain usable imagery. This exposed reconnaissance aircraft to antiaircraft artillery and surface-to-air missile threats for longer periods than many conventional strike or fighter missions. Consequently, TARPS-equipped Tomcats were often fitted with additional defensive equipment, most notably the Expanded Chaff Adapter and the AN/ALQ-167 electronic-countermeasures pod.

Expanded Chaff Adapter

The Expanded Chaff Adapter, or ECA, was an additional expendable-countermeasure dispenser developed to increase the F-14's relatively limited internal chaff capacity. It provided an significant increase in the countermeasure count of the F-14 before its role was largely replaced with the introduction of the LAU-138 BOL countermeasure rails in the 1990s. It was installed in place of an LAU-93 launcher on the port forward Phoenix pallet and provided space for as many as 120 additional expendable cartridges. On combat reconnaissance missions these were normally loaded primarily or entirely with chaff.

The ECA gave a TARPS crew a substantially larger supply of expendables with which to defend the aircraft during an extended reconnaissance run or withdrawal through a defended area.

The ECA was independent of the TARPS camera system and could technically be carried without the reconnaissance pod. In practice, however, it was strongly associated with TARPS missions because those missions presented a potential high requirement for additional chaff.

In DCS, the ECA can be used only in the A/G mode with chaff dispenses actuated by the Pilot's store release button with the ECA station selected and a bomb or ECA selected on the RIO's Armament panel weapon wheel.

AN/ALQ-167 Electronic-Countermeasures Pod

The AN/ALQ-167 was a modular external electronic-countermeasures pod. It was carried on one of the forward Phoenix pallets as part of the characteristic high-threat TARPS loadout.

Depending on the particular pod variant and its preflight configuration, it could employ selected noise and deceptive jamming techniques against radars associated with airborne intercept and surface-to-air weapon systems.

The pod's operating frequencies and threat-specific parameters were configured before flight according to the preplanned anticipated threats. The AN/ALQ-167 then supplemented the aircraft's built-in electronic-countermeasures equipment by providing additional protection against the radar threats expected along the planned reconnaissance route. Its effectiveness remained dependent on the installed pod configuration and whether the encountered radar fell within the frequencies and techniques for which the pod had been prepared.

A typical high-threat reconnaissance configuration therefore placed the ECA on the port forward Phoenix pallet, the AN/ALQ-167 on the starboard forward Phoenix pallet, and the TARPS pod on the starboard rear station. Together, the ECA and AN/ALQ-167 increased the survivability of a Tomcat that might otherwise have to maintain a predictable flight path inside a hostile radar and missile environment.

💡 Due to engine limitations, the AN/ALQ-167 does not provide any additional jamming effects over the built-in DECM on the F-14, so thus is purely cosmetic in DCS.

In DCS, TARPS functionality is currently limited to the KS-87D camera configured in the vertical, looking straight down position. Photography is initiated and concluded by using the special dedicated keybind. The TARPS control panel, navigation and HUD steering integration, automatic camera sequencing, KA-99 panoramic camera, and AN/AAD-5 infrared line scanner are not currently simulated.

All TARPS imagery are saved in the Saved Games/DCS_F14/TARPS directory. Each TARPS image is saved with the associated flight data when the image was taken (Mission Date, Lat Long, Altitude, Drift, Heading, Pitch, Roll).