Rockwell Collins to upgrade and maintain night vision helmet-mounted displays for combat aircraft

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – Combat avionics experts at Rockwell Collins-ESA Vision Systems in Fort Worth, Texas, will test, upgrade, and maintain U.S. military night visionhelmet-mounted displays for high-performance fighter-bomber aircraft under terms of a $10.7 million order announced Tuesday.

Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking Rockwell Collins-ESA Vision Systems to production and support of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) Night Vision Cueing and Display (NVCD) systems.

The NVCD is part of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), which projects symbology and imagery onto the pilot's helmet-mounted visor to help meet the workload of operating the aircraft; detecting, tracking, and engaging targets; and dealing with emergency situations. It enables high-performance jet fighter and bomber pilots to cue weapons and sensors at night.

The system is designed to allow near daytime tactics at night, while also providing the system's head-up display data over the eye in addition to camera video recording of the pilot’s viewpoint. Rockwell Collins-ESA Vision Systems is a partnership of Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Elbit Systems of America in Fort Worth, Texas.

The NVCD enables aircrews simultaneously to display radar and navigation symbology on the helmet's display and cue short-range air-to-air missiles. It helps pilots identify terrain, targets, and other aircraft at night.

Related: Vision Systems to provide night-vision capability for Air Force and Navy fighter pilots

This order is in support of the Navy's Aircrew Systems Program Office (PMA-202). It provides procurement for non-recurring engineering, testing, and technical data of NVCD systems and modified support equipment.

The JHMCS and NVCD are mounted on a lightweight HGU 55/P helmet shell that can accommodate the day or night modules. The system offers a 100-by-40-degree field of view or 40 degrees circular, with symbology or video inserted into the night-vision scene.

On this contract Rockwell Collins-ESA Vision Systems will do the work in Merrimack, N.H.; Wilsonville, Ore.; Atlanta; and Fort Worth, Texas, and should be finished by May 2019.

For more information contact Rockwell Collins online at www.rockwellcollins.com, Elbit Systems of America at www.elbitsystems-us.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.

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