Catalogue No: | C0507 |
---|---|
Category: | Head-Mounted Equipment [HMD/NVG/Glasses] |
Object Type: | Module/Sub-Assembly/Component |
Object Name: | Viper-like HMD for H-1 Helicopter Programme |
Part No: | None |
Serial No: | None |
Manufacturer: | Marconi Electronic Systems |
Division: | Airborne Display [ADD] |
Platform(s): | |
Year of Manufacture: | circa 1998 |
Dimensions: |
Width (mm): 280 Height (mm): 275 Depth (mm): 325 Weight (g): 740 |
Location: | Rack RAA15 (HMDs) [Mezzanine Store] |
[outer shell]
156610/5
[struck-through 156149/3]
────────────────
[optic]
502B901
sn: 1006
This is the main and inner shells with part of the optical mounting frame and part of single relay optics.
This Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) was developed for the US Marine Corps’ H-1 programme (for both AH-1Z and UH-1Y) in the late 1990s to early 2000s. The solution adapted the Viper (visor projected) optics into a new shell and used the inner helmet developed for the Germany Army’s Tiger helicopter.
The objective was to display night-vision imagery from separately developed miniature digital night-vision cameras (from Ball Aerospace). A Litton Mission Computer had the key role of processing video from these helmet-mounted cameras and sending them to the HMD.
The display at that time was still CRT-based, in fact it was probably the highest resolution CRT display built at Rochester, something like 1100-line, 60Hz raster with fast cursive symbology. The CRT’s ran very hot (probably their deflection coils) but the image quality was good.
The project died when the performance of Night Vision Goggles jumped beyond that of the then-available camera-based technology and its associated digital video processing.
The photographs show the inner shell with the main optical shell removed revealing the mounting pins for the main shell. The main shell is attached to the inner shell by three latches (marked "LOCK" on the main shell). The archive only has one of the two relay optics but it can be mounted in the left and right positions. A composite photo shows how a pair of relay optics would mount on the frame.
The two scales (one for each relay optics) marked "60 65 70 75" allow the interpupillary distance to be set to suit the helmet's wearer.