Elbit Systems, a major manufacturer of defence systems technologies, recently unveiled its novel augmented reality (AR)-powered helmet for helicopter pilots, the Jerusalem Post reported on Friday.
The company’s X-Sight helmet debuted as a solution for the United States Armed Force’s Future Vertical Lift programme and Israeli Air Force to power advanced, real-time visualisations rivalling F-35 displays.
X-Sight’s AR Defence Technologies
The AR helmet features a next-generation sensor system that leverages artificial intelligence (AI), allowing pilots to “see through the body of the aircraft,” the report said.
Other technologies include real-time data analytics, machine learning, and its BrightNite camera systems for day and night optics as well as thermal vision. The device’s LLTV camera system also taps an in-flight sensor for tracking moving targets and security threats.
The helmet provides additional clarity via a dual-eye lens, regardless of weather conditions or physical obstructions, and provides landing pad and obstacle mapping analyses, with a 2000-metre range and total field-of-view of 100 x 50. The solution also adds an XPlore Radar system for instalment on all aircraft types.
Camera systems also alert pilots to physical obstructions for low-altitude flights in zero visibility or potential collision with other pilots, the report explained, adding the device also overlays maps in the device’s heads-up display (HUD), namely for places with GPS jamming.
In a statement, Aviel Yahav, Business Development and Marketing Lead, said,
“This technology that we developed is bringing the fifth-generation capability from the F-35 to the helicopter fleet of combat helicopters and utility helicopters, allowing pilots to fly in any degraded visual environment and turning this degraded visual environment from a limitation to an operational benefit”
He continued, stating the technology would offer helicopter pilots “an F-35-grade HMD system” and would “address one of the toughest operational challenges of military helicopters.”
XR to Power and Protect Military Staff
The news comes amid a series of fresh extended reality (XR) solutions, including a massive breakthrough from AR training firm Red 6, who supplied their immersive solution to Saudi Arabia’s fleet of BAE Hawk Mk 165 fighter jets, which are set to roll out in the spring next year.
The Orlando, Florida-based firm also successfully trialled the product at its Combined Augmented Reality Battlespace Operation Network (CARBON) in a first-ever demo with Berkut 540 fighter jets in California.
The United States Air Force (USAF) has also launched plans to develop a SPACEVERSE metaverse platform, which would merge “terrestrial and space physical and digital realities” as well as provide immersive content for XR “training, testing, and operations environments.”
