The US Army has awarded Elbit Systems of America a $76 million contract to provide the Integrated Helmet And Display Sight System (IHADSS) for the AH-64 Apache helicopter fleet.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems Ltd. will deliver the system, manufactured at the company’s Fort Worth facility, by September 2026.
Apache Aviator Integrated Helmet
The system, which includes the Apache Aviator Integrated Helmet, provides “critical information” such as flight data, sensor, and 3D location-based information. It does so instantly before the pilot’s eye, enhancing situational awareness and reducing workload. The system allows the pilot to “slave the aircraft’s sensors to its avionics systems and missiles simply by looking at the target.”
The system feeds the information, including flight information, weapon-aiming symbology, and video imagery from the “Apache’s nose-mounted infrared camera to the crew member’s right eye via a half-mirror, optical combiner.”
Compatible With Apache Electro-Optical System
The monocular system is compatible with Apache’s Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) electro-optical system, produced by Lockheed Martin.
Elbit America’s Senior Vice President for Airborne Solutions, Sean Bond, said that the system is “uniquely suited to support the type of missions this attack helicopter endures,” including “supporting ground forces in obscure battlefield conditions or conducting reconnaissance flights.”