For a long time, the helmets fighter pilots wear when taking to the skies have been lacking that smart and modern touch. That is all about to change with the inception of the Striker II night vision helmet from BAE Systems.
The Striker II comes packed with a visor that acts as a high-definition display. It is also capable of projecting useful information to the pilot. In addition, the helmet boasts the ability to track the pilot's head, something that has never been done before where fighter pilot helmets are concerned.
Previous versions of the Striker helmet came with night vision goggles fitted from the outer section of the helmet. Such a design added a lot of weight on the pilot's head, and it becomes up to 9 times heavier when the jet is in flight.
Despite the issues with the first device, BAE still managed to add night vision capabilities to the Striker II. This time, instead of making available on the exterior, the company built the night vision hardware inside the helmet. The new night vision hardware, which borrows some aspect of a digital camera, makes for a lighter helmet.
Sensors on the inside remove any latency when the pilot move their heads, and the helmet's head tracking technology removes some of the disadvantages of earlier fighter pilot helmets.
"As the industry transitions from analogue to digital display solutions, Striker II brings a superior, fully digital capability to multiple platform types," said Joseph Senftle, vice president and general manager for Communications and Controls Solutions at BAE Systems. "Designed to address evolving mission requirements with advanced digital night vision technology, our new HMD was built to be 'future proof' and seamlessly adaptable to technology advancements in the years ahead."
As per Chris Colston, director of business development at BAE, the most important aspect of the Striker II is to keep the pilot safe, so pilots should not feel too threatened by this new helmet that puts a lot of focus on technology.
We're excited to see what will happen to the Striker II going forward, and if it would be seen as an important hardware by armies around the world.
