The third version of the helmet, which will be introduced in the fleet in the 2016, features an improved night vision camera, optimized liquid crystal displays, automatic alignment and a much more stable new software.
The first generation helmet was mainly used for safety tests. The second-generation one equips the current departments and is used by the Marine Corps, the first body in the world to declare the Initial Operating Capacity of the F-35B. The third generation helmet will correct the current problems of visual acuity of the second generation system.
The best helmet in the world costs 400 thousand dollars
It is simply called a helmet. It is designed to protect the rider's head. Obviously he does that too, but it's something never made for a fighter jet.
The pilot, wearing a helmet, does not see the physical limits of the cockpit, but the world: above, below or behind him. The pilot, turning his head, for example, will not see the tail rudder, but the sky behind it. The pilot's eyes, in fact, will be the six cameras installed on the fighter for viewing at 360 degrees. Each portion of the sky is covered by the lens of a camera that sends images to the pilot in real time. The visor of the helmet, therefore, becomes a window on the world.
Defining it as a visor would be too simplistic. This is also a term that does not properly explain what the viewer will do that will project all the information necessary for flight and combat. In addition to speed and altitude, for example, pilots should also detect incoming enemy fighters as well as land stations hundreds of kilometers away.
This technology has a price. In April 2015, a single helmet cost just over 400 thousand dollars. Previous versions of the helmet had problems in the presence of turbulence. There have been cases of latency in the video that caused motion sickness in the pilots. Then, night vision technology didn't work as it should. The "green light" obscured the view of the pilots. Things were so bad that in the 2011 the Pentagon commissioned BAE Systems with an alternative helmet if it was not in development. In the 2013, it was decided to continue with that of Rockwell Collins.
The third generation helmet presents improvements in terms of software and night vision. However, there are problems of sharing between fighters when they fly together. The problem does not arise when the training consists of two fighters. In that case, the two F-35 are able to share information to the bitter end without problems. A formation of four fighters, on the other hand, provides a real unstable picture, providing pilots with false signals on the targets.
(photo: Rockwell Collins)
