Boeing announced that it recently validated the integration of a new version of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, JHMCS II/h, on its F-15 Silent Eagle demonstrator aircraft. The company said this work continues “the on-schedule development” of the Silent Eagle, the newest F-15 iteration that Boeing is offering South Korea in that nations’ F-X fighter competition. “Integrating this enhanced system onto the Silent Eagle took less than three months between ‘go-ahead’ and first flight,” said Greg Hardy, Boeing’s JHMCS program manager, in the company’s July 30 release. Vision Systems International produces the JHMCS II/h, which allows a pilot to aim sensors and weapons where he is looking via new head-tracking technology and a display projected onto the helmet’s visor. The new configuration “provides significantly improved ergonomics and reliability, at lower cost,” states the release.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
