Honeywell to make SVS for Black Hawks
Helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft has tapped Honeywell to develop synthetic-vision technology for Black Hawk pilots landing in brownout conditions.

Helicopter maker Sikorsky Aircraft has tapped Honeywell to develop synthetic-vision technology for Black Hawk pilots landing in brownout conditions. The $6.9 million contract is part of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) so-called Sandblaster program.

Honeywell engineers will spend 18 months designing and demonstrating a new type of synthetic-vision system in the Black Hawk. The technology will integrate radar-based sensor information with terrain and obstacle data to provide a highly detailed 3-D graphical view of the landing area on the cockpit primary flight displays. Special symbology will allow pilots to land in any visibility conditions, including brownouts caused by blowing sand, without reliance on outside reference points.