Lockheed tests 360-degree vision system on Bell V-280

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Lockheed Martin has tested a new pilot vision system that uses sensors to deliver a 360-degree view around the aircraft.

Known as Pilotage Distributed Aperture Sensor (PDAS), the system consists of six infrared sensors positioned around the aircraft, all linked to aircrew helmets and cockpit displays via an open-architecture processor (OAP). It is being developed specifically for vertical lift vehicles and has previously been tested on UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. The latest tests, which took place in Fort Worth, Texas, were performed on a Bell V-280 Valor, a next-generation tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell and Lockheed.

"Conducting PDAS flight tests on the V-280 is an exciting first step toward delivering a level of situational awareness unavailable on today's army rotorcraft," said Rita Flaherty, strategy & business development vice president at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

"With its embedded, multi-functional sensors, PDAS is the ideal foundation for an integrated survivability suite that will enable army aircrews to own any environment and universally detect and defeat incoming threats."

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