Thales TopOwl deployed with French and US Forces in Afghanistan

Thales today announced that together with the Tiger and Huey UH-1Y helicopters, its TopOwl Helmet Mounted Sight & Display system (HMSD) has been deployed with the French and US Forces in Afghanistan, to provide high levels of night vision performance and targeting capabilities for helicopter pilots.

TopOwl is already installed and fully operational on five major helicopter programmes: Tiger, NH90, Cobra AH-1Z, Huey UH-1Y and Rooivalk.

An additional programme, the T129, is in progress. TopOwl has been chosen by 16 countries for their army, navy and/or air force attack and transport helicopters.

The combat-proven Thales TopOwl HMSD has been involved in bringing major operational benefits to helicopter crews. TopOwl is the only Helmet Mounted Sight and Display system offering both conformal piloting symbology, dark night vision performance and accurate targeting together with an unmatched level of comfort and fatigue reduction - key for war missions and the high levels of stress involved.

TopOwl night vision performance provides “level 5,” visibility equivalent to a cloudy night with no moon, no peripheral light source and no starlight.

With its exclusive architecture featuring the projection of intensified images directly onto the helmet visor, TopOwl offers a seamless transition between head-up piloting and head-down instrument monitoring, together with a well balanced centre of gravity, eliminating the pilot fatigue generated by standard night vision goggles.

Yves Joannic, Thales Vice President, Helicopter Avionics activities commented, “Thales is constantly working towards improving its products and systems. We integrate essential pilot feedback and build on existing technologies to provide greater levels of performance that will better support troops in theatre.”

TopOwl is also capable of switching directly from intensified image projection to high-resolution infrared image projection, via a simple click. It thereby meets increasingly rigorous demands for improved visibility and safe flight operations in degraded visual environments such as brownout, whiteout and nighttime flying.

Aimed at improving crew comfort and efficiency, TopOwl HMSD now features a new internal liner with new 3D fabric and an improved internal design.

The helmet provides a recognised, perfect fit and accurate targeting performance, while improving cooling characteristics, which is vital for pilot comfort in hot conditions.

Source: Thales