Airbus demonstrates Sferion system

Airbus Defence and Space has demonstrated the ability of its Sferion pilot assistance system to protect helicopters in restricted visibility conditions during a series of live flights during the German Army Aviation’s Helicopter Forum.

The flight demonstrations were conducted on a Bell 206 platform, with NATO army aviation service representatives in attendance at German Army Aviation’s International Training Centre in Bückeburg.  

During the demonstrations, manoeuvres included takeoffs, enroute flights such as low-level flights over hilly terrain and obstacles such as high-voltage pylons and power lines, and landings. According to Airbus, the flights demonstrated the operational maturity of Sferion and its ability to prevent the most significant causes of non-hostile losses and mission failures. 

The Sferion pilot assistance system has been developed to overcome the challenges faced by helicopter crews when flying at low altitudes and in degraded visual environments (DVE) such as brown-out, white-out and darkness. These conditions, especially when combined with challenging operations such as search and rescue, can result in controlled flight into terrain and wire and object strikes.

Sferion works to ensure that the crew is constantly aware of their physical and tactical position, in order to enable them to confidently fly the aircraft while completing their mission-specific tasks. 

The two main components of the system are the SferiSense laser-based  sensor, today already in service as obstacle warning system, and the SferiAssist data fusion system.

SferiSense is the core sensor, which precisely and reliably records the environment, such as terrain and objects. Even when flying in a brown-out cloud, SferiSense is designed to reliably detect the surroundings and identify obstacles, such as stones as well as landing slopes that could prevent a safe touchdown.

SferiAssist combines the real-time sensor data with that from a database in order to create a clear, realistic picture of the helicopter’s surroundings. The system selects the information relevant for the pilot for his current flight phase such as the next navigation point, the condition of the landing zone or the most critical obstacles.

Mark Condon, test pilot, said: 'The remedy for degraded vision hazards is no longer a future prospect. With Sferion, the solution for safeguarding helicopter pilots and missions is ready for service today.'

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