BAE Systems announced Wednesday the U.K. military placed the first order for a new generation of its helmet-mounted displays. The Royal Navy will purchase 12 remote sighting systems, which incorporate BAE’s Q-Sight displays, for its Lynx Mk8 helicopters. “Q-Sight makes aviators more effective in many situations, including degraded visual environments such as brown-out conditions,” said Jim Garceau, vice president of defense avionics for BAE Systems.
The Q-Sight display is a part of the Gunner’s Remote Sighting System (GRSS), a system that will allow the image from a machine gun-mounted thermal weapon sight to be displayed remotely on a see-through display mounted on the weapon operator’s helmet. BAE said the system is compatible with standard night-vision goggles and enables users to seamlessly switch between goggles and the thermal sight to acquire, track and engage targets.
BAE said the 12 Gunner Remote Sighting Systems will be delivered to the U.K.’s Ministry of Defense by May 2010, with initial systems delivered at the end of 2009 for training use.