Typhoon pilots with Britain’s Royal Air Force will soon be flying with a helmet-mounted system that will significantly increase their situational awareness (SA), particularly in the air-to-air role. Known as the helmet-mounted symbology system (HMSS), the helmet is built by the BAE Systems Platform Solutions facility at Rochester in the southeast of England and is currently undergoing operational evaluation and tactical development with the RAF’s No. 17 Test and Evaluation Squadron at Coningsby, with the aim of fielding it later this year. Other Typhoon operators will follow and are modifying aircraft for use with the HMSS, but different clearance procedures means it is the RAF that is taking the lead.
Weighing in at just over four pounds with the mask, the HMSS comprises an outer helmet covered with an array of pulsing LEDs. Three fixed tracking sensors are mounted in the cockpit (one on each side and one behind the seat) that measure the angles of three of the LEDs to establish a highly accurate position of the pilot’s head. The tracking system automatically selects which three LEDs are measured in order to provide the most accurate information, in turn allowing precise head-tracking across the entire range of possible head movement.
