October 19, 2006: The U.S. Air Force received the first fifteen new HARM Targeting System HTS-7 electronic warfare pods, and got them ahead of time (which is always a good sign). The HARM (High speed, Anti-Radiation Missile) has been around since the 1960s, and is fired at enemy radars and other transmitters (radio), usually as part of shutting down enemy air defenses. The HTS is the device you mount on the electronic warfare aircraft (in this case, usually an F-16) that is carrying the HARMs and leading missions to destroy enemy air defenses. The latest HTS ("Revision 7", thus HTS 7), has better electronics and software for detecting enemy transmissions before the aircraft is close enough to launch a HARM (about 150 kilometers for the current AGM-88). Some two hundred existing HTS pods will be upgraded to the Revision 7 standard.
