Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System

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A US Navy pilot wearing a JHMCS helmet

The Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) is a fighter aircraft pilot's helmet with an aiming system integrated into the visor, which controls radar and weapon tracking in the direction of the pilot. He is from the US Corporation Boeing produces.

history

The trigger for the development of a helmet aiming device for the US armed forces was primarily the extensive testing of German MiG-29A . When it competed against the F-16C in close-range combat ("dogfight") , it quickly became apparent that the helmet aiming device in conjunction with the R-73E guided missile brought the MiG-29 a decisive advantage and was decisive for the machine's high combat performance Melee was responsible. After several studies, the development of the AIM-9X finally began , which was designed for use with the JHMCS helmet and outperforms the R-73 in almost all areas. The main contractor for the helmet itself is Boeing, the Group closely with Vision Systems International cooperates, a joint venture between the Israeli company Elbit and the US company Rockwell Collins . This joint venture was formed primarily because of Elbit's extensive experience with helmet sights ( DASH ).

Series production has been going on since 2004 and over 3,300 units have already been delivered to the US armed forces (as of March 2010), some of which have already been sold to other countries' air forces (see details below ). The system price is $ 214,000, including all maintenance, training and other costs.

technology

The JHMCS helmet with the corresponding connections

The most important and distinctive feature of the JHMCS helmet is the integrated helmet aiming device. This measures the head movements of the pilot with high accuracy in order to then align the sensor systems (e.g. the radar ) of the combat aircraft or its weapons to the area in which the pilot is currently looking. This is particularly of great advantage in connection with the AIM-9X, as the pilot can now aim at and combat targets that are up to 90 ° away from the flight axis. This corresponds e.g. B. a target that is directly above the pilot. The older models of the AIM-9 series had a maximum angle of 27.5 °, which is why the pilot had to be in a certain target cone behind the enemy machine to use them. By removing this restriction, a pilot now has a good chance in close-range combat even with a less agile machine. The system can also provide target data for visually identified ground targets or assign a specific search sector to the on-board radar.

Another feature is the display integrated into the visor, which shows various data and can completely replace the conventional head-up display . However, since all aircraft equipped with JHMCS already have such a head-up display, this option is not fully exploited. This was only realized with the F-35 , which does not have a head-up display and uses a further developed variant of the JHMCS, the Helmet Mounted Display System .

The helmet has a modular structure, which makes maintenance and any technical improvements (upgrades) easier. Furthermore, it was the design for the use of new Panorama - night vision devices optimized.

Platforms

1 Integrated, but procurement has been canceled

User states

Web links