BAE TIALD pod on Panavia Tornado

TIALD, the Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator pod, is manfactured by BAE SYSTEMS and is the UK's laser designator for laser-guided bombs.

The UK uses the Paveway series of laser guided bombs (LGBs.) The first operational use of LGBs by the UK's armed forces were the RAF Harrier attacks on Argentine forces during the Falklands War. However laser designation for these attacks was carried out by a forward air controller using a ground designator. Following the conflict it was realised that an airborne designator was required.

GEC-Marconi started development of the TIALD pod in the late 1980s. The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the resulting Gulf War saw the TIALD pod rushed into service. In the Gulf War several modified Panavia Tornados and some Blackburn Buccaneers laser designated for non-modified Tornados which carried LGBs. The Buccaneers carried the Pave Spike designator, which was less capable and limited to daylight. The RAF dropped over 6,000 1,000lb bombs, 1,000 of which were laser guided. Two TIALD-equipped Tornados guided more than 200 LGBs onto targets in the last month of the conflict alone. Further development of the pod enabled aircraft to self-designate targets. The TIALD pod has been used extensively since the Gulf War including during the Iraqi no-fly zone patrols (1991-2003,) the related Operation Desert Fox (1998,) the Kosovo War (1999) and the 2003 Iraq Conflict.

The TIALD pod has been constantly updated, the current version of which is the Series-400 fitted to the Tornado GR4. The TIALD pod will likely be fitted to the Typhoon when it enters service. However the UK is studying a next generation designator pod, possibly in collaboration with other European countries.

While the laser-guided bomb remains a key weapon in the UK's arsenal, recent developments have seen its importance diminished. The introduction of the Storm Shadow missile gives the RAF a stand-off attack capability, reducing the danger to both aircraft and crew. The UK has committed to the Enhanced Paveway, which incorporates GPS guidance, reducing the effect that poor weather or smoke has on accuracy.