PYLON

PYLONS

An aircraft pylon is the part of airframe, used to carry extra external load.This external load consist of Bombs ,Missiles,Gun pods or even podded engines.

Types of Pylons

Rail Launchers

These pods carry heavy missiles which have their own rocket engines to travel after ejection from aircraft.F-18 and F-4 aircraft's uses these Launchers.

 

Ejector Racks

Ejector rack launched missiles simply uses gravity to move.The pylons are mainly Hardware compatible so that they can carry different types of racks.These launchers are mainly placed near the center of gravity of Aircraft .The mechanical interference is easy so as to carry different kind of bombs or missiles.

Some times these ports are also used for carrying equipments for surveillance such as cameras.  

Wet Hardpoints

These points are capable of interfacing with drop tanks mounted on it.These points are used to intake Fuel in air to increase the flight range of any aircraft.These points can also be used to carry extra weapons as dry hard-points.