Graham Warwick
GEC-Marconi virtually invented the fighter head-up display, but here on its home turf a US upstart is celebrating two of the most significant recent wins in the HUD market.
Flight Visions is displaying the lightweight Night Hawk HUD selected by Lockheed Martin for its X-35 Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator, and the Sparrow Hawk HUD that Northrop Grumman will use to upgrade US Navy F-14B Tomcats.
The X-35 contract means that tiny, privately held Flight Visions, based in Sugar Grove, Illinois, expects to compete against mighty GEC in the winner-takes-all competition to supply HUDs for the products.
GEC has been selected to provide the HUD for Boeing's rival X-32 JSF concept demonstrator. One of the two fighter designs will be selected in 2001 to meet US and UK requirements for some 3,000 aircraft.
"We were very surprised when Lockheed told us we had won," says elated Flight Visions president Bob Atac. He is also delighted to have the F-14 upgrade contract, which includes a multi-function display and mission processor.
The equipment is "truly commercial", he says, and will boost time between failures for the F-14 display suite from today's 11h to at least 750h. The new computer will provide growth capacity for future upgrades.
Flight Visions' low cost HUDs are on the new Aero L-159 light combat aircraft and upgraded IAR-99 Soim advanced jet trainer here at the show. The company has also supplied displays for Israel Aircraft Industries' Kfir fighters and is bidding to provide the HUD for Turkish air force Northrop F-5s to be upgraded by Israel.
Source: Flight Daily News
