BAE’s helicopter terrain awareness system is a Blast
BAE Systems is preparing for the start of flight trials of a landing-vision aid for helicopter pilots that uses millimeter-wave radar to see through browno

BAE Systems is preparing for the start of flight trials of a landing-vision aid for helicopter pilots that uses millimeter-wave radar to see through brownout conditions created by blowing dust or sand.

Called Blast, the technology can create 3-D or top-down views of a landing site and portray those images in the cockpit on a helmet-mounted or LCD multifunction display. Blast’s computer compares topography data with the radar image to determine the location of obstructions down to the size of a one-eighth-inch wire. Potential hazards are shown on the display in red.