  LOFT (Large Observatory for X-ray Timing) is one of the five candidates that
were considered by ESA as an M3 mission (with launch in 2022-2024) and has been
studied during an extensive assessment phase. It is specifically designed to
perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes
and neutron stars. Its pointed instrument is the Large Area Detector (LAD), a
10 m 2 -class instrument operating in the 2-30keV range, which holds the
capability to revolutionise studies of variability from X-ray sources on the
millisecond time scales. The LAD instrument has now completed the assessment
phase but was not down-selected for launch. However, during the assessment,
most of the trade-offs have been closed leading to a robust and well documented
design that will be re- proposed in future ESA calls. In this talk, we will
summarize the characteristics of the LAD design and give an overview of the
expectations for the instrument capabilities.
