US places multi-million dollar order for high-tech fighter crew helmets

The United States has placed a series of orders for helmet-mounted instrument displays that increase the situational awareness of military fighter crews.

Vision Systems International in San Jose, Calif., said this week its Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems enable pilots and rear-seat crew to acquire targets simply by looking at them and also aim weapons and know what the other crewmember is seeing.

The capability to quickly identify and react to targets has become increasingly important in current U.S. military operations involving small-scale targets and precision-guided ordnance.

The contracts came from Boeing as well as the Air Force and Navy and totaled more than $80 million. VSI said in a statement the deals would cover full-rate production of Lot 3. The systems will be used in F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft flown by the United States.

Read the rest at UPI