Thales Gives Civilian Pilots Some Of The Same Capabilities As Military Aviators…

Thales displayed its TopMax lightweight head-worn display at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas in October. The company says the device completely bridges the technological gap between a military HMSD and a civilian HUD.

First demonstrated at the Paris Air Show in 2015, TopMax, provides low visibility take off/landing functions, Enhanced Flight Vision and Synthetic Vision capabilities of a fixed HUD, but like an HMSD, it gives a 360? field of view and total eye-out functionality.

Thales says the company was able to integrate functionalities at the heart of its HMSD products, including head tracking system for target designation and cueing functions. This evolution allows a civilian pilot to look at objects like 3D traffic to better understand their position and, in some cases, like waypoints, select them for inclusion in the FMS as direct destinations, in the same way a military pilot can select targets visually for inclusion in targeting operations.

This translates into significant benefits to business jet pilots, whose mission types, in certain respects, are not far off military missions. Both face challenges such as approach and landing at smaller airports with low visibility conditions and require a high level of situational awareness in a highly flexible operational context.

Thales says that with TopMax, pilots are thus able to achieve their mission and serve the needs of their passengers in a more efficient and safer way.

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