Dr Stefan Petersen joined the German Air Force Weapons School as it carried out part of the instructor course at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden, where crews trained in the employment of missiles, bombs and guns.
With full concentration, the weapons systems officer watched the display picture supplied by the laser designator pod (LDP) under the fuselage of a Luftwaffe-operated Panavia Tornado IDS. Using a small joystick, he directed the ‘eye’ of the LDP to the ground object that was to be attacked – in this case an empty container on the Vidsel Test Range in northern Sweden.
However, the laser did not mark the target for one of the Tornado’s own weapons, but for the guided bomb being carried by a Eurofighter EF-2000 turning towards the target area right at that moment.
