Product: Innovative Flight Helmets for Fighter Aircraft and Helicopters Developers: Yoram Shmuely, Yaron Kranz, Joseph Ackerman Company: Elbit Systems Ltd. Start of Development: 1986
Very few companies can boast that theirs is the product of choice for 90 percent of potential clients. Elbit Systems is one such company. Its flight helmets are a force multiplier deployed in 90 percent of fighter aircraft and helicopters worldwide that are equipped with advanced helmets.
Development began in the eighties. Helmets that were originally designed to protect pilots’ heads from physical impact and to shield their eyes from sunlight or glare have now become a key component in the aircraft’s avionics.
At the preliminary stage, a basic aiming cross display along with line-of-sight measurement capability were integrated in flight helmets. The incorporation of these capabilities allowed the system to slave air-to-air missiles to the pilot’s line of sight granting pilots a critical advantage in combat and constituting a comprehensive game changer in air to air combat.
In 1993, Elbit began to incorporate the HUD (Head-Up Display) capability into their helmets. This technology projects critical information onto the helmet visor, saving pilots the need to glance at the instrument panel to retrieve data on flight status, location of formation members, threat detection, and more.
The most advanced helmet in the world to date is used in F-35 jets (Adir), and is manufactured by Elbit Systems in collaboration with Rockwell Collins. The binocular helmet offers 40-degree field of view, and is the first helmet to replace the legacy glass HUD that is mounted at the front of the aircraft. The helmet also obviates the need for clumsy night vision devices, projecting high-quality night vision through the use of cameras installed around the aircraft.
These advanced flight helmets have sparked a revolution in aviation and in weaponry systems employed in both daytime and nighttime conditions. The intuitive data display reduces pilot workload and improves task performance.
Elbit continues to innovate, incorporating Augmented Reality based training, monitoring of physiological condition and more into their next generation helmets.
In line with the company’s motto “By pilots, for pilots,” the helmets were developed by former air force pilots Yoram Shmuely and Yaron Kranz, who are closely familiar with operational requirements. Another key figure in helmet development was Joseph Ackerman, the former CEO of Elbit Systems.
