Look-to-shoot helmet to redefine aerial dogfights

LONDON - A fighter pilot can shoot down enemy planes by just glancing at them, thanks to a futuristic new helmet.

The Striker integrated display helmet marks one of the biggest leaps forward in attack capabilities in military history.

Targets pop-up in the pilot’s visor, at which point he can select by voice command and fire, a Daily Mail report quoting The Sun said.

As long as the enemy’s aircraft is in sight - whether that be below, above or to either side - a missile can be directed towards it.

The breakthrough brings to an end the century-old concept of the aerial dogfight, in which one plane must be directly behind another in order to hit it with firepower.

The innovative two-part helmet design has been co-developed with aircrew and logistic support engineering participation, the report said.

It works by using tiny optical sensors in the Striker helmet, which are then picked up by further sensors in the cockpit.

“It means the end of the dogfight,” leading pilot Mark Bowman told The Sun. “Traditionally, you have to get behind an aircraft to lock on. With this, I steer the weapons with my head.”

The helmet has been developed by Britain’s BAE Systems and has been subjected to extensive flight trials in RAF Typhoon planes.

A spokesperson for BAE said: “An advanced optical head tracker is integrated into the helmet system to provide a high accuracy, low latency solution for low, medium, and high altitude operations.”