In France, Safran Electronics & Defense (Safran) announced that it has signed an important contract with the NATO Helicopter Management Agency (NAHEMA) for the development of the Eurofl’Eye distributed panoramic vision system.
Signed in partnership with NHIndustries (NHI) and Thales, this contract responds to the needs of the French Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) and the Spanish Dirección General de Armamento y Material (DGAM) and represents a strategic milestone for helicopter pilot assistance systems in Europe.
Eurofl’Eye is an advanced distributed aperture system (DAS) that provides the pilots of the NH90 helicopter with a panoramic and detailed view of the surrounding environment, even in the most difficult flight conditions (at night, in the presence of dust or fog) together with the images offered by the Euroflir 410 EO/IR optronic turret integrated in the front part of the aircraft.
The Eurofl’Eye system combines images from six wide-field-of-view infrared cameras and provides a real-time 3D image, aligned with the pilot, directly to the helmet-mounted TopOwl display, developed by Thales and, therefore, offers a wide and continuous 200° field of vision to both pilots, improving their awareness of the external environment.
As a result, Eurofl’Eye will improve the operating conditions of NH90 pilots during even the most demanding missions, making them safer and more precise.
The Eurofl’Eye system developed by Safran will initially be installed on the recently ordered French and Spanish NH90 TTH helicopters and will then be integrated on the examples already in service. For Safran, the development of the EuroFl’Eye will leverage the joint expertise of major European industrial players, further strengthening cross-border innovation and the operational capacity of helicopter fleets across Europe.
Source and photo credit @Safran Electronics & Defense
