November 16, 200718 yr http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/11/16/combathelmet1_wideweb__470x304,0.jpg X-ray helmet set to revolutionise aerial warfare 200 Billion Helmet ! Australian pilots flying the new generation of fighter jets now under development will wear bespoke, high-tech helmets equipped with a feature that gives airmen simulated X-ray vision. The cutting edge headgear, which looks like it's been sourced from a Star Wars costume department, is being tested by Royal Air Force (RAF) scientists at the Boscombe Down base south-west of London. The RAF has just released a photograph of the so-called Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS), which will be used by pilots manning the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. Australia is one of eight partner countries - including Britain, Canada, Italy, and Turkey - that have signed up to the $US200 billion ($225 billion) US-led JSF project, the world's most expensive military aerospace program. The helmet integrates a host of sophisticated electronic features including dashboard-type navigation, targeting and monitoring data that will be displayed on the inside of the helmet's visor, just centimetres from a pilot's face. According to the RAF statement, the helmet will "integrate night vision capability and even superimpose infra-red imagery onto the visor which allows the pilot to 'look through' the cockpit floor at night and see the world below". This is achieved with the use of six infra-red sensors on the aircraft that will relay a virtual see-through representation onto the visor display. "The F-35 HMDS is new and nothing like it has been fielded," said Louis Taddeo, marketing director of Vision Systems International (VSI), the company developing the helmet. "It provides revolutionary capability" Weighing approximately 1.5 kilograms, the new helmet will also incorporate "first look, first shot" technology used in earlier models that allows pilots to line-up targets simply by looking at them. Previously, pilots would have to manoeuvre the aircraft so its nose was pointing at the target.
November 17, 200718 yr That is the coolest helmet... ever. AND IT ONLY WEIGHS 1.5 KILOGRAMS?! ZOMG. I want one.
November 17, 200718 yr I'd be afraid to drop it? 200 billion would take along time to pay don't ya think?
November 17, 200718 yr wow thats pretty crazy and expensive I wonder if its acctually gonna pass testing and people are gonna buy it cause I feel srry for the person thats gonna have the job of fixing those cause I am sure they are gonna break quite often lol:D
November 18, 200718 yr Thats a pretty insane development budget... With something as helpful as that, it's more than worth it. You no longer have to turn your aeroplane to look at your target, you can achieve a lock simply by looking at it. Not only that, but you can see targets directly beneath you and look through your plane at the ground below. Not to mention, instead of a HUD in the cockpit (which, if you look left, right, up, or down, you would no longer see), you have it right there in front of you no matter what way you're looking. I think such an advancement is worth considerably more than just 200 billion.
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