thumb|TIALD pod at The [[Royal Air Force Museum London]]
The Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator (TIALD) was a targeting pod manufactured by Ferranti/GEC Marconi in the late 1980s and 1990s, and was the UK's primary laser designator for its Paveway series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs).
History
The RAF's first laser designators were Westinghouse Electric Corporation Pave Spike pods fitted to Blackburn Buccaneers which entered service in 1979. As these were limited to daylight use, the Ministry of Defence initiated studies for a new laser designator. The Ferranti pod incorporated thermal imagers from GEC-Marconi and automatic video tracking equipment from British Aerospace.
The TIALD pod was used extensively following the Gulf War including during the Iraqi no-fly zone patrols (1991–2003), the related Operation Desert Fox (1998), Operation Deliberate Force, Bosnia (1995), the Kosovo War (1999) Integration on the Harrier GR7 commenced in 1996.
Manufacturer
Due to the corporate history of its parent companies, the manufacturer of the TIALD pod has been known as Ferranti, Ferranti International, GEC-Ferranti/GEC-Marconi, and Selex ES.
Replacement
Experience in Afghanistan lead to the realisation that TIALD was outdated, as described by an RAF Wing Commander: <blockquote>"[It] was designed in the 1980s, to allow pilots to drop laser guided bombs on targets like bridges, big buildings and aircraft hangars... TIALD as an air interdiction targeting pod is very good and has done this reasonably well over the last decade, as was proved in Deliberate Force (1995), Allied Force (1999), and Operation Telic (2003). Now, however, we need a sensor that is geared more towards urban <nowiki>[</nowiki>close air support<nowiki>]</nowiki>, where we need to defend particular targets that are very similar to others, like compounds within small towns or villages."</blockquote>
The TIALD pod was replaced by the LITENING targeting pod on Tornados. The Sniper pod replaced TIALD on Harriers following an urgent operational requirement in 2007.