Free Republic

The USAF is quick to tout that the F-22 Raptor fleet has been finally upgraded to use the AIM-9X Sidewinder—a long awaited move that will allow the most advanced air superiority fighter in the world to ditch the relatively ancient AIM-9M version of the iconic short-range air-to-air missile. But even with this new capability, F-22 pilots still lack a helmet mounted display (HMD) to take advantage of the missile's high-off boresight (HOBS) abilities, and there doesn't seem to be much talk about fixing this long standing deficiency in the near term. You can read all about the F-22's short-range missile...

The helmets for Britain's new Lightning II F-35 stealth jet fighter cost £260,000 each. The high-tech helmets are linked to six cameras embedded in the jet which combine images to provide a 360 degree view allowing the pilot to "see through" the airframe. Flight and targetting information is beamed directly onto the visor, into the line of vision of the pilot. Britain has said it will order 48 of the £70 million jets, which will fly from RAF Marham and the UK's new aircraft carriers. Earlier this month it emerged lightweight pilots have been temporarily banned from flying Britain’s new...

One of the most 'popular' features on the controversial F-35 is the jet's Distributed Aperture System (DAS). DAS creates an all-seeing sphere and classifies and relays data and video to the pilot's helmet and to the jet's mission computers. This game-changing system has now been adapted for the high seas, and it won't stop there. DAS accomplishes its unique task via a constellation of electro-optical cameras installed around the F-35, each staring in a separate direction. Then, a powerful computer processor "stitches" these video images together to create a continuous viewable video "sphere." When the DAS imagery is paired with...

Alenia Aermacchi, a Finmeccanica company, recently carried out the first flight tests of the new sophisticated Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) system That Will Be fitted to the M-346 advanced training aircraft Masters. The HMD system, a true interface between the pilot and aircraft systems, complements the Head-Up Display by offering the pilot to receive attitude, navigation, tactical and mission information directly on the helmet visor, independently of the direction in which he is looking. The HMD system, a true interface Between the pilot and aircraft systems, complements the Head-Up Display by offering the pilot to receive attitude, navigation, tactical and...