Indian defence helicopter pilots to soon get Israeli Helmet Mounted Display System

New Delhi : Indian defence forces will soon get the state-of-art Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS)/Helmet Pointing System (HPS) Version 02 for their pilots flying rotary wing platforms (helicopters). Navratna Defence Public Sector Unit (PSU) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Israel’s Elbit Systems Limited entered into a Technical Collaboration Agreement (TCA) during the February 20-24 Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru to manufacture the helmets for the helicopter pilots of the Indian Navy and other armed forces

BEL will no manufacture and integrate the Helmet Mounted Display system (HPS Ver-02) for Indian Naval and other rotary wing platforms of the armed forces under licence from Elbit Systems Limited. The HMDS will have the latest features of Night Flying with Night Vision Goggles, Colour Day & Night Display, 3D symbology, Head Tracking, Sensors & Weapon Cuing.

The HMDS/HPS provides the capability to display helicopter’s flight and platform information, mission data, target information as well as additional enhanced application capabilities such as Low Visibility Landing and Take-Off, flight within Degraded Visibility Environment, optional Weapons Management and Synthetic Vision during day and night flying.

The ‘Heads Up – Eyes Out’ concept minimises the need for ‘Heads Down’ in-cockpit instrumentation observation for critical information as altitude, velocity, engine performance, warning indications and allows the crew to concentrate on mission performance, thus increasing situational awareness and survivability in all naval missions.

On March 5, 2019, Elbit Systems Limited’s subsidiary Elbit Systems of America was awarded a five-year contract by the United States Army to provide a wide field of view Common Helmet Mounted Display (CHMD) system. 

The full-colour CHMD will be part of the US Army’s Air Soldier System, used by helicopter pilots to provide day and night enhanced situational awareness and survivability in all flight conditions. It will be fully integrated into the Elbit Systems’ Helmet Display and Tracker System used onboard the US Army’s CH-47F Chinook and the UH-60L/M/V Black Hawk fleets. 

“Our CHMD provides advanced capabilities for Army pilots,” stated Raanan Horowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Elbit Systems of America. “Our solution supports pilots experiencing crisp, clear and accurate symbology, which provides critical information during flight and a decisive edge in mission effectiveness.”