Image of the Day: The $400,000 helmet that allows pilots to see through aircraft

It may seem like an exorbitant amount of money to spend on a helmet, but for $400,000, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display system allows pilots to “see” through their own aircraft.

By wearing the helmet, pilots receive all the information they need to complete their missions including airspeed, heading, altitude, targeting information and warnings. The information is projected onto the helmet’s visor rather than traditional Heads-up Displays.

The F-35 aircraft that works in conjunction with the helmet includes a Distributed Aperture System which streams real-time imagery from six infrared cameras that are mounted to the aircraft to the helmet so pilots can “look through” the airframe. 

The helmet also provides night vision capabilities to wearers. 

So when a pilot is set to fly the F-35 the most expensive military plane constructed, he or she will be wearing the Helmet Mounted Display which Lockheed Martin claims “provides pilots with unprecedented situational awareness.”

For more information on the F-35 and the F-35 Helmet visit Lockheed Martin.