The European Eurofighter Typhoon consortium is offering its almost science fiction-evoking helmet to the Indian Air Force (IAF) as part of its bid to win the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender, according to company sources. The helmet can enable a pilot to lock-on target and shoot by voice command, merely after looking at the target.Company sources confirmed to StratPost that the Eurofighter Typhoon Helmet Mounted Symbology System, developed by BAE Systems and released last July, was part of its offering to the IAF. BAE Systems had issued a press release on the helmet earlier this month, calling it something out of Star Wars, in a reference to its seemingly filmy capabilities, where it said the helmet ‘lets the pilot see through the body of the aircraft’.
“Using the new helmet system, the pilot can now look at multiple targets, lock-on to them, and then, by voice-command, prioritize them. It’s a lightning-fast system to let the pilot look, lock-on, and fire,” said BAE Systems of the system, which also brings to mind the thought-controlled weapons system onboard the fictional MiG-31 in the Clint Eastwood-starring Firefox.
The helmet has a number of fixed sensors, which move in relation to the sensors on the aircraft as the pilot moves his head, ‘ensuring the aircraft knows exactly where and what he is looking at’. Apparently, the pilot can zero-in on targets even if they’re out of line of sight or nowhere in the range of the aircraft vector.
Pilots of British Royal Air Force (RAF) Eurofighter Typhoons are expected to be become the first users of this helmet sometime this year.
