Helmet Could Let Pilots 'Look Through' Aircraft

The Swipe team goes behind the scenes in the research lab at the UK's largest defence and security company.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is one of the most advanced combat aircraft in the world and BAE Systems has created a helmet that could make its pilots more effective.



Striker II has an integrated night vision camera and a high definition digital display that projects flight information onto the visor.

BAE claims the helmet has the ability to virtually see through a Typhoon by linking up to different systems on the aircraft.

The helmet’s tracking system is also important.

It ensures the pilot's head position and the aircraft computer system are continuously in sync.

"If you have a digital display there it means we can put in sensor information," said Mark Bowman, director of flight operations at BAE Systems.

"That can be situations like an infrared picture, it could be an imaging pod, it could be a radar display.

"If you’ve got a sensor located around the aircraft, if that happens to be underneath, then you can give the impression that the pilot is essentially looking through the surface of the aircraft."

The new helmet has not been used in combat operations yet, but it has been tested extensively during flight trials.

Giving pilots more technology has benefits, but relying on it too much could potentially cause problems.

"If they (Typhoon pilots) had a high-tech helmet that was made bespoke to the pilot, what happens if that helmet goes unserviceable en route to the aircraft for a scramble, or as you plug in and start the engines?" said James Ixer, former RAF Wing Commander and managing director of the Drone Pilot Academy.

"There needs to be robust back-up plans in place."

At BAE Systems' research lab in Rochester, Kent, everything built there has to pass through a rigorous round of tests.

One of the tests is called 'Shake and Bake'. A device is put into a chamber and subjected to extreme temperatures and vibrations.

"We take an item and bolt it down and shake it, to ensure nothing literally will fall off," said Mark Applegate, manufacturing resource manager at BAE Systems.

"In addition to that we take it up and down in temperature so there is some stress that goes through every item we put through this particular test.

"That test is important."

(culled from news.sky.com)