"Magic Helmet" For F-35 Ready For Delivery 184
Graculus writes with news that the so called "magic helmets" for the controversial F-35 are ready for action. This week, Lockheed Martin officially took delivery of a key part of the F-35 fighter's combat functionality—the pilot's helmet. The most expensive and complicated piece of headgear ever constructed, the F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) is one of the multipurpose fighter's most critical systems, and it's essential to delivering a fully combat-ready version of the fighter to the Marine Corps, the Navy, and the Air Force. But it almost didn't make the cut because of software problems and side effects akin to those affecting 3D virtual reality headsets.
Built by Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems International (a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and the Israeli defense company Elbit Systems), the HMDS goes way beyond previous augmented reality displays embedded in pilots' helmets. In addition to providing the navigational and targeting information typically shown in a combat aircraft's heads-up display, the HMDS also includes aspects of virtual reality, allowing a pilot to look through the plane. Using a collection of six high-definition video and infrared cameras on the fighter's exterior called the Distributed Aperture System (DAS), the display extends vision a full 360 degrees around the aircraft from within the cockpit. The helmet is also equipped with night vision capabilities via an infrared sensor that projects imagery inside the facemask
Built by Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems International (a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and the Israeli defense company Elbit Systems), the HMDS goes way beyond previous augmented reality displays embedded in pilots' helmets. In addition to providing the navigational and targeting information typically shown in a combat aircraft's heads-up display, the HMDS also includes aspects of virtual reality, allowing a pilot to look through the plane. Using a collection of six high-definition video and infrared cameras on the fighter's exterior called the Distributed Aperture System (DAS), the display extends vision a full 360 degrees around the aircraft from within the cockpit. The helmet is also equipped with night vision capabilities via an infrared sensor that projects imagery inside the facemask
Re:no, just people (Score:3, Insightful)
bigoted
"King Obama" is racist? Fuck you and your race card.
Re:Cost (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you still drive a 70's car?
If the price of a new car was $180M, I would definitely stick with my trusty 70s car.
Re:Cost (Score:2, Insightful)
Races are a voluntary event just like air battles.
The USA is not currently in danger of being invaded and does not currently need a $1 trillion fighter jet. We could have instead used this period of relative calm to assess our needs in a 5th generation fighter and been smart about designing and manufacturing it.
Instead, we immediately handed over an unbelievably high sum of money to the first defense contractor who shit something out in powerpoint. Then we repeatedly shoved more and more money into their hands as they came back with 'issues' to be solved.
Israeli defense company (Score:2, Insightful)
An Israeli defense company, eh?
Well, no one is quite the expert at mass murder that the Israelis are, as they're proving in Gaza right now by butchering 4 civilians for every enemy "soldier" that they kill.
Can you imagine the uproar if 80% of those killed in Afghanistan by US forces were civilians?