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Predator-Style Helmets Allow Pilots to See Through Planes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the also-makes-you-look-super-badass dept.

nitroy2k writes "It is only the neck and shoulders that prove there is a human being in there somewhere. And this isn't any Star Trek or Final Fantasy kind of trick, but the next generation of RAF fighter pilots' look, which kinda makes you wish you were in the army." And you thought Air Wolf had badass headgear.

16 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. This Isn't New by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I worked on a military aircraft program, and we had the same thing. A head-tracking helmet that displayed the video to the pilot and had an imposed an outline of the aircraft so you knew where you were looking.

    This is really just new packaging of an old idea.

  2. army? by TrappedByMyself · · Score: 5, Informative

    which kinda makes you wish you were in the army

    So you could admire the cool helmets the Air Force, Navy, and Marine pilots have?

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    Help me take back Slashdot. When did 'News for Nerds' become 'FUD and Conspiracy Theories for Extremist Nutjobs'?
    1. Re:army? by nicolastheadept · · Score: 1, Informative
      No, the F-35 is more of a stealth fighter than the Harrier, which is actually being replaced by the Eurofighter Typhoon. BAE is in-fact involved in the development of the F-35 as well.

      Considering this is a UK piece and the F-35 is set to replace their ARMY's Harrier then it does make sense and you just look like a dumbass. Remember the air force fly planes, and the army drive tanks!
      --
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    2. Re:army? by EvilMonkeySlayer · · Score: 4, Informative

      Navalised Typhoons are the backup plan in-case the Americans don't come through with the F-35's flight system software, which they are somewhat bizarrely not handing over. I heard there was some progress but it all seems to have gone somewhat quiet of recent.

      Apparently the UK has plans to develop a navalised Typhoon, but plans are very different from an actual plane. So, in otherwords.. if the UK doesn't get the flight software for the F35 then the UK pulls out of the JSF program, doesn't buy any F35's and instead develops a navalised Typhoon.

      Of course, there are good points and bad points to that:

      Good:
      * The Typhoon is faster, has a longer range and in every regard except for stealth/low radar visibility outperforms the F35
      * We won't be dependant on the USA in the slightest

      Bad:
      * It will take time and lots of money to develop a navalised Typhoon
      * The Typhoon isn't capable of VTOL (useful for the current Invincible class carriers, not so much for the new QE class carriers)
      * A navalised Typhoon will cost more maintenance wise than an F35 for carrier usage. (think wear and tear, landing vertically with a nice lift fan doesn't damage an aircraft airframe or under carriage anyway near as bad as an arrestor hook landing)

  3. Army? by schwit1 · · Score: 3, Informative
    "... which kinda makes you wish you were in the army."


    The Army flies helicopters, not fixed-wing aircraft.

  4. Earlier ... by foobsr · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/10/new-helmet-allows-fighter-pilots-to-peer-through-the-jet/

    engadget, CA - 23 hours ago
    No, the headgear in the photo above wasn't some unused prototype created for The Terminator; rather, it's a snazzy new helmet designed to give fighter ...

    CC.

    --
    TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
    1. Re:Earlier ... by stu72 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Way earlier.. in fact, the original source material:

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=492631&in_page_id=1965&ito=1490

      Why not just link to that in the first place?

      Reading 18 blog summaries to just get back to the original story is ridiculous. If you want to credit the guy who happened to tip you off, by all means, but stop wasting our time, link to the original article.

      And then of course there's the old saw about how blogs will replace newspapers - interesting that their original material often seems to come from them.

      I'm sure I'll get flamed with comments like, "but what about the blog writers ad revenue stream - how dare you cheat him out of his living!" - bullshit. What exactly is the blog writer adding to the equation here that entitles him to anything? The Daily mail reporter found & wrote the story, got quotes, graphics & photos and did the layout. The blog writer said, "Hey, this is cool, check it out". Or more likely said, "hey, check out what my blog buddy said about what his blog buddy said about what his blog buddy said about what his blog buddy said about this cool article in the newspaper"

      hilarious.

  5. Re:The scenic view by flyingfsck · · Score: 2, Informative

    The ground doesn't zip when it is a few thousand feet below, even at mach 2. You need to be close for that effect.

    --
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  6. slashdotted already? by wizardforce · · Score: 3, Informative

    So pilots in these aircraft won't have as many blindspots as are in current aircraft? Are they planning on using this on current aircraft or as an add-on to future ones because I thought the F-22 Raprtor was the last plane in future production that actually had a pilot rather than a UAV type craft or was that just for testing?

    --
    Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
  7. Link to original article by SpectreBlofeld · · Score: 5, Informative

    Link to the original Daily Mail article: The Terminator-style helmets that allow fighter pilots to see through their planes

      Note to submitters and Slashdot editors: Don't link to blogs. They get Slashdotted.

      It's especially shiatty when a blogger doesn't even provide a link to the article he's pulling his text and images from.

      Interesting how the blogger switched the referenced Schwarzenegger character of choice from The Terminator to the Predator in his 'article' to make it appear as original content.

  8. another photo by TheSHAD0W · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.rockwellcollins.com/news/page8813.html

    Clicky for bigness.

  9. Re:Slashdotted? by echucker · · Score: 5, Informative

    Because it's really not a FA at all... It's a blog that links to an article. Would it kill the editors to actually link to a story, instead of just bump up joehaveablog's hit counter?

  10. but the British Army doesn't fly Harriers... by fantomas · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...except that the British Army doesn't fly Harriers: check here for what the Army Air Corps flies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_United_Kingdom_military_aircraft ... only the RAF (the Air Force) and Fleet Air Arm (the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships) fly Harriers.

  11. Old Tech by kunwon1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    US Pilots have had this for a few years at least, it's called JHMCS, Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System.

    http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/systems/jhmcs.htm

    --
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  12. Re:Air Wolf by tempaccount · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can't believe 30 year old technology is making the frontpage of slashdot. You do realize the Apache helicopter already does this. Heck it's even got 157 power zoom so the gunner can look at the moon and watch satellites go by. The pilot can look straight down at his crotch and see the ground go by underneath him. And if you think vertigo is a problem in a fixed wing aircraft, it's not, rotary wing pilots have adapted to that tech already.

  13. Link to the actual article by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Predator-Style-Hemlets-Allow-Pillots-To-See-Through-Planes-70542.shtml