Elbit Systems has unveiled its BrightNite system, which is designed to allow the pilots of military utility helicopters to perform night-time missions without the use of night vision goggles.
Gil Russo, senior director at Elbit's helicopter solutions division, says low-flying aircraft are especially vulnerable to threats such as difficult terrain, enemy fire and wires intersecting their flight paths. Sorties also must often be carried out in a degraded visual environment, adding to the already heavy workload and leaving flight crews to rely on night vision goggles to accomplish their mission.
Responding to such challenges, Elbit has designed a radome containing eight uncooled forward-looking/infrared sensors and packaged them in a turret carried beneath the helicopter's nose. The package delivers a 220˚ x 90˚ field of view and high-resolution video output with intuitive symbology on a helmet-mounted display. This allows him/her to fly in a head-up, eyes-out position in all visibility conditions, improving mission effectiveness and flight safety, Russo says.
The BrightNite system uses pre-loaded terrain and obstacle information.
Source: Flight International
