Mercury Systems is to deliver high-definition, digital Head-Up Display (HUD) systems for the T-45 Goshawk training aircraft.
The five-year contract from the US Naval Air Systems Command is worth as much as $83 million.
The Navy is the first customer to adopt Mercury’s HUD1080 technology that enables aviators to see critical flight and weapons data in real-time without taking eyes off the sky.
Under this program, Mercury expects to deliver nearly 300 HUD systems, with the first $45 million production order awarded in conjunction with this contract.
The T-45 Goshawk is a tandem-seat jet trainer used to train Navy and Marine Corps aviators to fly the U.S. military’s most advanced fighter jets, including the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-35 Lightning, and the EA-18G Growler, as well as tactical airborne early warning aircraft such as the E-2 Hawkeye.
The new T-45 HUD with an integrated camera is based on Mercury’s low-profile HUD design that minimizes pilot discomfort, enhances situational awareness, and maximizes an aviator’s field-of-view. It is also DAL-A certifiable, the highest level of design assurance that can be applied to airborne systems, allowing it to be used for critical flight and mission tasks such as landing on aircraft carriers.
Why it matters
Pilots must understand a wealth of rapidly changing data while flying, and a HUD allows them to maintain awareness of this information without having to take their eyes off the sky to look down at multiple instruments. Current training aircraft use older analog HUD systems that have a bulky design, are out of production, and cannot integrate with the modern enhanced vision systems used in today’s fighter jets. The integration of Mercury’s HUD into the T-45 solves the obsolescence problem for the aircraft and ensures pilots are trained in an operationally realistic environment, as the systems are compatible with upcoming T-45 avionics upgrades.
“The introduction of the HUD1080 expands Mercury’s display technology portfolio and our ability to deliver mission-ready technology and solutions for all aspects of the avionics ecosystem,” said Mitch Stevison, Executive Vice President and President of Mercury’s Mission Systems division. “We look forward to delivering our digital HUD for the T-45 Goshawk, ensuring today’s student pilots have the technology to train for current and future missions.”
