Available directly from L’Arsenal USA or L’Arsenal Models.

I would like to thank Tony Bunch and Jacques Druel for this review sample, and IPMS for allowing me to review it.

As a fan of the Armee de L’Air and the Aeronavale, I was happy to receive something new to hang from my Rafale models. L’Arsenal, more familiar to ship modelers, also offers a good number of aircraft details through their Aero line of products. The AREOS Reco NG pod is their latest offering in 1/48. To be honest though, I had to do a little research since I was not familiar with the AREOS pod. It is just now being fielded – the Armee de L’air having ordered twelve pods for it Rafale B and C fighters, and the Aeronavale eight for its Rafale M. The debut role for the pod was during the NATO intervention in the skies of Libya.

The AREOS Reco NG pod, developed by Thales, is part of the F3 standard for Rafale fighters and provides an all-digital reconnaissance capability. The pod is 15 ft. long and weighs 2,420 lb. The front end has a high altitude/medium altitude optical sensor for photography with identification range of several tens of kilometers. At the back end of the AREOS pod is a low-altitude sensor which supports horizon-to-horizon photography at an altitude as low as 200 ft. and at very high speeds. As images are taken, they are automatically overlaid on a digital map, geo-referenced and assembled to provide a complete mosaic of the target. The images are then stored on a hard disk in the pod and can be transmitted to a ground station in real time via a high-speed microwave link. As for ease of use: “The crew sees a pointer on their digital map with a mission request. All they have to do is indicate that they accept the mission and slave the pod to the pointer. It’s fast, easy, and there’s no risk of a misunderstanding…”

What L’Arsenal provides is a detailed and crisply cast AREOS reconnaissance pod already mounted to the centerline pylon. The pod is cast in two parts, the main body (including the blade antenna and cooling intake) and the rotating head. They are already removed from their pour blocks. My blade antenna broke in transit, but was easily repaired. Assembly was just a matter of gluing the two parts of the pod together. The joint is keyed so you can only attached the rotating head in a proper sideways or downward position. I chose to glue mine rotated all the way to the right, as this seems to be the park position when not in use, no doubt to protect the optical window. The accompanying photograph demonstrates what I mean. The build-up is impressive in size, comparable to a drop tank.

The AREOS pod from L’Arsenal is a welcome addition to the growing number of available modern French stores. Crisply cast, it is offered at a very affordable price. If you have a Rafale model waiting for stores, pick one up on line from L’Arsenal and L’Arsenal USA. Both will be at IPMS-USA Nationals 2012. Highly recommended.