Helmet-mounted displays

[spazsinbad]

'Meteor' I do not think you have read/understood previous recent posts here about the HMDS. Only the inner shell/pads are tailored to the individual. The HELMET is exchangeable without these inner bits, being replaced by more inner bits tailored to the next pilot. So within reason a squadron of pilots will have their individual helmets tailored by the inner parts. There will be spare outer helmets and spare inner bits that need to be tailored as required. Pilots come and go whilst helmets stay.

viewtopic.php?f=62&t=16223&p=286205#p286205

There was a remark in an earlier recent article that pilots should be allowed to take their helmets with them when they leave (the service?). What a joke. Everything has to be returned and if not paid for. Perhaps broken gear might be allowed to go out with a pilot but not serviceable gear - especially gear that itself is secret and likely will remain so for some time. Search for 'secret' in this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=62&t=16223&p=251390#p251390

[popcorn]

@meteor... 9000 liners, 1500 helmets would be needed in your scenario.

[bring_it_on]

What is the cost of the JHMCS II plus Night vision goggles? The best I could find was a price of around 200K for the less capable JHMCS from 2006 -

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/97m ... ets-01908/

It claims "more than 400" units, so i used 500 units to be safe. JHMCS II is more capable so should be more expensive even in then year dollars.

[Dragon029]

I've been told pricings for the JHMCS without NVGs; $200k with them would then roughly correlate with what I've been told. I don't know how recent that cost was, but it wouldn't have been any older than 2007.

Taking a ballpark guess, I'd say $200k to $250k with NVGs in today dollars would be a reasonable guess.

[bring_it_on]

I've been told pricings for the JHMCS without NVGs; $200k with them would then roughly correlate with what I've been told. I don't know how recent that cost was, but it wouldn't have been any older than 2007.

Taking a ballpark guess, I'd say $200k to $250k with NVGs in today dollars would be a reasonable guess.

I had the JHMCS II + NVG combo pegged at around 250-300K as well in today's dollars.

[maus92]

"Frankly, I don't give a damn" where the erroneous numbers came from - ARSEtechnical or otherwise. This is what is important & referenced above (but who cares - certainly not the naysayers eh):

[HMDS] Navy Contracts
24 Jun 2014

"Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $75,980,553 modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-12-C-0004) for the procurement of 252 helmet mounted display systems [301.5K each?] in support of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the governments of Japan and Israel...."

Source: http://www.thebaynet.com/news/index.cfm ... y_ID/37815

Yea, that's a contract modification, meaning one or more other contracts have to be examined to figure out the actual unit cost.

[spazsinbad]

Hmmm... whatever I found did not mention HMDS so I'll assume that the one modification was the only one to indicate the price of HMDS. The contractor has made an official promise to get the price down to $250K as I recall. That would be in this thread somewhere relatively recently.

Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) Dec 2013
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft (F-35) As of FY 2015 President's Budget

Executive Summary...
“...One critical challenge the program made head way on in 2013 was the HMDS. For more than two years, the program worked with industry teammates to conduct dedicated flight tests and develop solutions to address the helmet's technical challenges. Those issues that hampered helmet function have been resolved, and the unit cost of the helmet system has decreased. As a result of testing and mitigation of the HMDS issues, the parallel development of an alternate helmet has been terminated. The current helmet has been deemed acceptable to support USMC IOC in 2015, and the Generation 3 helmet - to be introduced to the fleet in LRIP Lot 7 in 2016 - will meet program requirements to complete test and development in 2017. The Generation 3 helmet will include an improved night vision camera, new Liquid-Crystal Displays, automated alignment, and software improvements. The downselect to the current HMDS also resulted in a price guarantee that reduced the overall cost of the HMDS by 13 percent for the next five years ....”

Source: http://www.scribd.com/document_download ... ension=pdf (0.7Mb) (97 pages)

Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs
31 Mar 31 2014. Publicly Released: Mar 31, 2014 GAO-14-340SP

"...F-35 Program | Technology Maturity ...The program recently chose to end development of an alternate helmet due to progress made on the original helmet design and work on development of a newer generation helmet....

...Program Office Comments...
...The program ended development of the alternate F-35 helmet as further testing indicated it is acceptable for USMC initial operating capability. Continued improvements will be made in the Gen III helmet. This decision includes a guarantee from industry to reduce the unit cost by 12% from previous estimates....”

Source: http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/662184.pdf

F-35 JPO drops development of BAE alternative helmet
10 Oct 2013 Dave Majumdar

...“The cost guarantee made by the Lockheed Martin/Rockwell Collins/Elbit team resulted in a reduction of 12% from the previous cost for the helmet system,”
the JPO says...."

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... et-391623/

[spazsinbad]

Interestin' tidbit 'bout centrifuge:

F-35 Program HOTAS Controls

"...F-35 is the most complex HOTAS grip system with the highest switch count of the US fast jet fleet.

We were commissioned to create metal grips, and replace the base mechanisms with force accurate hardware for a high fidelity simulation.

The F-35 HOTAS set soon followed for similar reasons. We were asked to custom build a set that would withstand centrifuge usage, with special fail-safe electronics..."

http://www.aerotronicsllc.com/images/F35throt.jpg & http://www.aerotronicsllc.com/images/f35thr1.jpg

Source: http://www.aerotronicsllc.com/f22.htm

[spazsinbad]

Today 'sergei' [ viewtopic.php?f=55&t=16457&p=288467&hilit=probable#p288467 ] pointed to this very long video which very well shows the PCD in the simulator shown - well worth watching:

For another reason the 'vHUD' bit at the end has been excerpted below the first LONG video:

F-35 Simulator - AA and AG Modes / Avionics
DailyAirForce Uploaded on Nov 12, 2010

"10 Minutes long video shows F-35s' AA and AG modes"

[bring_it_on]

Helmet-mounted display symbology for enhanced trend and attitude awareness -
Joseph C. Jenkins, Capt, USAF
F-35 Integrated Test Force, U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center Edwards Air Force Base, CA 93524

Nice information on the work on the VISTA program -

https://www.scribd.com/doc/260631001/He ... uiAe66BFGL

Measurement and Reduction of System Latency in See-Through Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) Systems

https://www.scribd.com/doc/260631331/Me ... s68QBFOxjP

[spazsinbad]

Just curious why these 'PDFs' cannot be downloaded as PDFs? It would be so much less of a hassle if downloading the documents as 'original PDFs' was possible OR an option. AM I Missing Something? & I did go here to see what could be seen but there are only so many hours in any of my days....

http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.o ... dings.aspx

[bring_it_on]

Just curious why these 'PDFs' cannot be downloaded as PDFs? It would be so much less of a hassle if downloading the documents as 'original PDFs' was possible OR an option. AM I Missing Something? & I did go here to see what could be seen but there are only so many hours in any of my days....

http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.o ... dings.aspx

I just sent you a PM..

[spazsinbad]

OK thanks. I get the issue you describe. PDFs can be made from the ScribD site - with some difficulty - I was attempting to avoid that. Once information is online - in whatever form - it is online for all to see. Thanks for finding this stuff and pointing us to it. In the past I have searched for public PDFs about this and other topics - such as NavAv - that interest me, so the info is always in PDF form for public download. IF not - then - I don't find it.

[spazsinbad]

F-35 Lightning II fighter jet pilots will wear $400K helmets + BILLIE FLYNN VIDEO Explanation
02 Apr 2015 Christian Davenport The Washington Post

"...Like the plane, the helmet is enormously expensive. The cost of each custom-made helmet is more than $400,000. And like the plane, which is years behind schedule and millions over its original budget, the helmet has encountered problems....

...The program’s executive officer, Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, recently told reporters that the helmet, once a concern, was no longer “on my top 10 worry list.”

Pilots have recently started flying tests with the third iteration of the helmet, which has a new night vision camera and software improvements....

...Recent flights have shown that progress on the helmet is continuing as well, Norman said. Many of the previous issues have been resolved, but there are still issues with the green glow, and the way the pilots see the images projected on the visor.

“There’s still a little bit of tweaking we might want to do with how we stitch together the imagery,” he said. “Testing is an ongoing process. And if you find problems we try to fix them and look ahead.”

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2015/04/f35-lig ... 0k-helmets

[bring_it_on]

Enhancing HMD-Based F-35 Training through Integration of Eye Tracking and Electroencephalography Technology

https://www.scribd.com/word/removal/260904529