YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz., 11 Nov. 2016. U.S. Army helicopter aviation experts are moving forward with a program to use synthetic vision technologies to enable rotorcraft pilots to take off and land in degraded visibility environments (DVE) from blowing dust, snow, or other conditions that make it difficult to see.
Officials of the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., are working with avionics designers at Sierra Nevada Corp. in Sparks, Nev., to develop and demonstrate degraded visual environment (DVE) technologies to mitigate the effects of brownout or whiteout conditions on helicopter pilots.
Landing a helicopter in choking dust or blinding snow can be particularly difficult because pilots can become disoriented easily near the ground as they lose view of the horizon and other visual cues.
Sierra Nevada engineers recently displayed advancements in the company”s synthetic vision technology during demonstrations at the DVE Mitigation (DVE-M) program’s NATO Yuma Flight Trials in Yuma, Ariz., company officials say.