Air Force Special Operations Command’s AC-130W Stinger II gunships will be upgraded with Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, contractor Elbit Systems announced. “The JHMCS II system features the most innovative head-tracking technologies available, giving pilots increased situational awareness no matter what direction he or she is looking,” company president and CEO Raanan Horowitz said in a May 19 release. JHMCS “gives pilots immediate and accurate recognition of friendly, threat, and unknown targets,” he added. Both the F-15 and F-16 fleets are equipped with JHMCS, but the Stinger II gunships will be the first large mobility-type aircraft equipped with the system, according to the company. Elbit Systems of America will upgrade AFSOC’s 12-strong AC-130W fleet as part of a joint effort with Rockwell Collins over the next two years, the release states. The precision strike package-equipped Stinger II variant is armed with ?guided munitions, including the Griffin missile and Small Diameter Bomb.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.