Pilot Helmet Technologies: Enhancing Safety, Precision, and Awareness
From advanced visors with augmented reality to biometric sensors and real-time data integration, modern pilot helmets are revolutionizing air combat and aviation safety.
Early pilot helmets served the sole and essential purpose of protecting the heads of aviators. However, with every decade of aviation history, additional functions and technologies have become integrated into this essential piece of pilot gear, and today helmet-mounted technologies like advanced communications equipment, night and augmented vision goggles, head-mounted displays (HUDs), biometrics monitoring systems, and even oxygen masks for fighter jet pilots embed the pilot into connected systems in the aircraft and on the ground.
However, while this cutting-edge helmet tech is critical for modern mission success, the accumulation of electronics at the end of the 20th century made helmets heavy and uncomfortable, leading to neck and back pain for career military and commercial aviators. In response, airlines and militaries have focused on updating pilot helmets to protect aviators’ long-term health, while retaining powerful new capabilities. Lightweight materials and miniaturized electronic components are essential to refined new designs for both civilian and military pilots.
“Specific interconnects tend to vary on the application, as the signal requirements for military transport helmets are significantly different than what can be needed for an attack helicopter or fighter pilot,” said Robert Grzib, marketing manager for CDM Inc. CDM has been involved with the development of pilot helmet technologies for more than 30 years, developing manufacturing protocols for interconnection requirements, including specialized cable assemblies and overmolded components, and working with OEMs across aviation sectors.
Around the world, militaries are focused on modernization, and recent initiatives include the full redesign of pilot helmets to integrate new technologies like augmented reality and AI into safer, more comfortable flight gear that is more connected with the aircraft and flight command. In 2022, the United States Air Force announced that LIFT Airborne Technologies won the Next Generation Fixed Wing-Helmet (NGFWH) Competition to develop a new helmet for Air Force fixed-wing aircrew. Human factors such as stability, weight, comfort, and overall fit will be complemented by integrated systems like weapons guidance, target cueing, improved speech intelligibility, cockpit lighting, and stability improvements. Other militaries and commercial aviation entities are also moving beyond outdated pilot helmets.
“CDM supports the audio and signal requirements for current and legacy helmet designs. CDM can also support the infrared camera interconnectivity that feeds the modern helmet’s 360° views and heads-up displays,” said Grzib. “The commonality for audio and signal is a vibration-resistant, circular interconnect with a high-density contact design (up to 27 contacts) to allow for redundancies of signal. Miniaturization is also utilized in some applications. CDM’s manufacturer partners Amphenol Nexus and Eaton provide those interconnects, which are also used for ground vehicle helmet designs.”
Data integration and communication depends on high-reliability interconnects that can contribute minimal weight to pilot helmet designs while providing essential, real-time connectivity between aircraft systems, helmet systems, the cockpit, and the ground.
In military helmets, secure, high-speed connections must be ruggedized to transmit mission-critical information in extreme environments.
While the specific technologies included in a helmet design vary depending on the type of aircraft and affiliation involved, many innovations that began in the military, like the HUD systems and night vision, have become standard features in commercial aviation and ground vehicle designs. HUDs have been part of Boeing and Airbus pilot helmets since the 1990s, serving as a pilot’s primary display system, providing situational awareness, flight information, and other data about the aircraft and air traffic. The interconnects involved in helmets mirror those used in soldier wearable technologies that may exist in a standalone format or be used for a ground vehicle helmet. In those cases, a connector with a quick release latching feature might be preferred.
“An OEM could design a coms headset or vision headset that uses a threaded plug onboard an aircraft but uses a quick disconnect or breakaway for a ground vehicle where the user may need to quickly dismount for safety purposes – but the base system retains the same locking mechanism,” said Patrick Tolbert, Airborn digital leader.
Virtual capabilities expand pilots’ vision
The next wave of technologies for pilot helmets are centered on the integration of AI and AR technologies into HUDs. In military use, this virtual boost provides extreme spatial orientation, superior weapons targeting, and tactical superiority in day and night conditions. In commercial aviation, integrating virtual capabilities into the display enables pilots to see through the bottom of the fuselage or directly at a target. These systems overlay real-time data and visual information directly onto the helmet visor, providing the pilot with a 360° view of their surroundings. They can “see” through clouds, darkness, and obstructions using synthetic imaging and enhanced vision systems.
Other new pilot helmet innovations include biometric sensors that monitor the pilot’s vitals, including heart rate and oxygen levels, preventing fatigue and ensuring in-flight health. The helmet can alert the pilot and ground crew to signs of fatigue, hypoxia (lack of oxygen), or high stress levels, which are critical in high-pressure situations like combat or long missions. Active noise-cancelling technology will be further improved to block out external noise from engines or weapon systems, which can cause long-term hearing damage and fatigue. By minimizing hearing loss and reducing cognitive strain caused by noise, the helmet enhances situational awareness and decision-making. Clear communication lines also ensure pilots receive crucial updates and commands, even under difficult conditions. In addition, future helmets may be integrated with advanced anti-gravity systems led by biometric sensors that help pilots cope with the high G-forces experienced during extreme aerial maneuvers.
“I believe that future design and technologies will support the pilot’s human element,’” said Grzib, noting that helmet design and technology integration go hand in hand towards addressing both the physical factors that impact the experience of the pilot wearing it and the technologies that improve their performance and safety/ “Materials technology will lessen the weight at a component level, including interconnections, and specific ergonomic designs for female pilots are a necessity not currently addressed.”
Future designs will include even more integrated AI, and potentially fully immersive systems, which will bring challenges related to weight, battery life, and ensuring durability under extreme conditions. The continued miniaturization and increasing performance of aviation grade components like sensors, cables, and connectors will make the “right stuff” for tomorrow’s helmets.
To learn more about the companies mentioned in this article, visit the Preferred Supplier pages for AirBorn, CDM Inc., and Sager Electronics.
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