GEC and Honeywell have been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide a helmet-mounted sighting system for the Royal Air Force's Sepecat Jaguar GR1B strike aircraft.
Under the initial contract, 12 helmet-mounted sights (HMS) will be procured. They will be a fully qualified production variant, say sources close to the project. The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) has been using a development model to study air-to-air and air-to-ground applications.
The Jaguar HMS is part of the so-called Standard 97 package. This builds on the Jaguar Standard 96 package, whose design was led by the DERA, which included integrating the GEC Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator (TIALD) and head-up display, as well as a 1553 standard databus, global-positioning system and terrain-reference navigation.
The DERA has been studying the use of an HMS for cueing the TIALD pod as a way of reducing pilot workload in a single-seat aircraft. The Jaguar was initially cleared only for medium-altitude laser-designation operations because of pilot-workload concerns. The use of an HMS may eventually allow for relatively low-level missions, using the TIALD pod in single-seat aircraft.
Also under consideration as part of the Standard 97 package is fitting the Jaguar with the Matra BAe Dynamics Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM).
Helmet-mounted cueing would allow for the full exploitation of the ASRAAM's high off-boresight engagement capability.
Source: Flight International