Peter Kemp wrote:

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:49:24 GMT, "Tom Schoene"
wrote:

"John Cook" wrote in message

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 12:20:30 -0400, Peter Kemp
wrote:

On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 23:18:26 +1000, John Cook
wrote:

take a look at
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/374892/M/

Great photo - but what's that on the port side pylon? Looks almost
like a wingless TALD.

Its the Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS) pod it contains a Laser
Warning Receiver, among several other systems!!.

See http://www.eurofighter.starstreak.ne.../defences.html

for full details


John, I think he's asking about the gizmo in the pylon inbaord of the
wingtip, not the DASS pod at the tip itself.

Spot on Tom.

My guess is that it's an instrumentation pod of some sort, possibly for
AMCI, or maybe for flight testing.

The tail looks vaguely like it may have an outlet, not an exhaust -
possibly a towed decoy of some kind - thought my memory, fuzzy thing
that it is, is telling me a towed decoy is part of the standard fitted
DASS.

The link that John provided states that the towed decoy is carried in the
starboard wingtip pod. The tail fins make the store in question look like
some kind of AAM captive carry dummy store to give appropriate drag, lift,
weight and balance for training, and the pylon and shoe appear to be those
for an AAM. The apparent diameter of the store makes me think it's an
ASRAAM dummy, although the fins are more representative of an AIM-9 or
clone. OTOH, I have no idea what the small venturi (for want of a better
term), on the underside of the "missile" body between the fins, is for.

Guy