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BAE Systems gets first order for Q-Sight display system
September 9th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Antonie Boessenkool
LONDON – BAE Systems announced Wednesday that the U.K. Ministry of Defence has ordered 12 of its Q-Sight helmet-mounted displays for the Royal
The Q-Sight system displays information from a thermal weapon sight onto the lens in front of the user’s eye. This system aboard the antisubmarine ship H.M.S. Somerset, at the DSEi conference, is a prototype.
Navy, the first order for BAE of the new sighting system.
The Navy will use the displays on its Lynx Mk8 helicopters, BAE said at the DSEi conference. The system takes images from sensors and other data sources and displays them in front of the user’s eye in an attachment to the helmet. It uses a holographic technology to inject the image into a thin transparent lens.
BAE started development on this technology two years ago and has been marketing it for both commercial and military pilots as a tool to reduce fatigue and cut the need for large lens systems in the cockpit. But the Royal Navy will use the 12 systems for rear gunners in its helicopters. The Navy’s Q-Sight will project the image from a machine gun-mounted thermal weapon sight onto the display mounted on the gunner’s helmet, allowing the gunner greater range and movement.
BAE will deliver the 12 systems to the Navy by May 2010, and they will be fully operational at the time. BAE will deliver initial systems to the Navy at the end of 2009 for training.
Chris Colston, director of international business development for defense avionics, declined to give a value for the contract in announcing the sale Tuesday.
Tags: BAE Systems, dsei, Q-Sight