war” mods but also pilot training. Instead
of sending aviators who have just returned
from combat off to distant training facilities, “we’re taking the training to the units,”
Killen said. Although the Product Manager Office was initially slated to train only
the first three CH-47F units, it has been
directed to train all 12 Active Army CH-
47F Combat Aviation Brigades.
Because it maximizes soldiers’ time at
home with their families, the NETT training approach is popular and has given the
CH-47F product office a good relationship
with the units, Killen said. Aviators have
overwhelmingly indicated that the CAAS
cockpit and the new flight control system
reduce workload and provide a more
stable flight environment, he said. Pilots
also value the increased situational awareness and the new SATCOM capability of
the ARC-231 radios. As of early March the
Army calculated that the F and D Models
together have flown 147,137 hours in Iraq
and 104,012 hours in Afghanistan.
rate, vertical velocity, heading and radar/
barometric altitude. The clip-on, plug-and-play combiner is also retrofittable to
analog cockpits, the company said.
Although the main thrust of the system is for the pilot, BAE’s first customer,
the Royal Navy, plans to use Q-Sight in
a remote sighting application for a side-mounted machine gun in the Agusta Westland Lynx Mk8. Instead of putting his eye
up against the thermal weapon sight, the
crew chief/gunner can sit back and see
what the weapon sight sees, explained
John Nix, vice president of business development for avionics. The gunner doesn’t
command the gun with his eye but sees
what it sees when he moves the weapon.
The initial contract will equip a dozen aircraft. The U.S. Army is evaluating Q-Sight
and BAE has its eye on the emerging Air
Soldier program.
In addition to its small size, the Q-Sight
features a relatively large “exit pupil,” BAE
said. Exit pupils are like windows through
which the pilot sees the symbology or
video on the HMD. The smaller the exit
pupil size, the more precisely the optics
must be aligned with the eye in order for
the user to see the presentation. The larger
the exit pupil size, the easier the initial
adjustment and the more forgiving the fit
under high-vibration conditions. Q-Sight
provides 768-by-768-pixel resolution and
a 30-degree-circular field of view.
Q-Sight
Also at Quad-A will be a new HMD, BAE
Systems’ Q-Sight. At 300 to 400 grams, the
monocular system is not a heavy-weight,
but that’s a good thing. The device, which
went into production this year, uses holographic waveguides rather than multiple
groups of lenses to move an image to the
HMD. So with eyes up and out the aviator
sees flight-critical, HUD-style information such as the artificial horizon, turn
Sagem
At Quad-A Sagem will exhibit a
demonstrator Bell 206 with the
same cockpit configuration the
company uses on prototype OH-58
and TH-67 aircraft, the first step
toward a projected upgrade of
the training platforms. The service
selected Sagem’s Integrated Cockpit Display System (ICDS) for the
prototypes, and the displays were
installed by Yulista Management Services, Huntsville, Ala., the Army’s Prototype Integration Facility contractor.
The Army is evaluating the prototypes and is expected to issue an RFP for an upgrade
program late next year. The program is understood to require an FAA STC, as the TH-67 is
a type-certificated aircraft, virtually identical to the Bell 206. Right now Sagem is the only
company that can meet the STC requirement for a PFD and an engine display system,
according to Tim McAdams, Sagem’s program manager for the OH-58 and TH-67. (Sagem
provides the displays under Vector Aerospace’s STC for the Bell 206.) The Bell 206 glass
cockpit is an eight-inch-diagonal, three-screen, installation, including a PFD on each
side and an MFD (with mapping or engine information) in the center. When the MFD is in
mapping mode, engine information is presented at the bottom of the PFD.
At Quad-A Sagem also will exhibit a mockup panel of its cockpit displays for a civilian
Sikorsky S-61 upgrade to showcase its capability for heavy lift helicopters. This cockpit
upgrade, which has been certified for VFR operations, includes five 10-inch-diagonal
displays—two PFDs, two MFDs—primarily used for mapping—and one center engine
display and caution advisories system (CAS), as well as a 6-inch diagonal CAS repeater in
the center console. The company is working with Carson Helicopters and Vector Aerospace on the package.
Trainer Upgrade
BAE Systems
BAE Systems’ Q-Sight is designed to help
aviators keep their eyes up and out.
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APRIL 2010 | ROTOR & WING MAGAZINE
