Moody A-10 pilots first to field target system downrange

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Eileen Meier
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Air Force pilots haven't exactly advanced into cyborg assassins with titanium endoskeletons, but the equipment they're using is along the lines of artificial intelligence. Advancements in technology have created what was once only confined to the imagination and virtual reality, to what is now genuinely in existence.

For several decades, pilots have relied on tracking equipment to locate and disable an enemy or precisely take out an area harboring terrorists in a civilian condensed village. To expedite the tactics required of pilots, they have been provided with equipment from the world's leading supplier of military aircrew helmets.

The 23d Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment technicians have been working with members of a renowned corporation on the introduction of a one of a kind Helmet Mounted Cueing System to the unit. It is the only full-color helmet display system and includes optical motion tracking, head-steered weapons, 24 hour day/night capability and integrates with older flight helmets to avoid replacement costs.

"Airmen of the 74th Fighter Squadron are the first to field the HMCS for the A-10C Thunderbolt II, and first to bring it downrange," said Scott Smither, HMCS technical specialist. "It will be a great advantage for the pilots."

Step-by-step validation of the companies' written procedures for the system and a second visit imparted the skills needed for the 23d OSS AFE technicians to provide routine maintenance checks and the 72-hour certification training for pilots.

During their first temporary duty assignment with the HMCS to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., a demonstration of what they were taught was given to support other bases utilizing the system.
"This new A-10 weapons system is going to help take care of the bad guys," said U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Sean Crowell, 23d OSS AFE technician. "The pilots will be able to go up in the air to perform the mission more efficiently and effectively than we do now."

During operations with lives at stake, time is a sensitive matter with little to spare. If a group of coalition troops are traveling by foot through a rural mountain village downrange and are suddenly fired upon from multiple locations, it is likely that they will call for air support.

By the time he arrives the new targeting system will have already positively identified most of the environment. Even with vague landmark descriptions given to help locate the adversaries below, it won't be a complicated task.

"If you're downrange looking at a convoy, and an improvised explosive device goes off, you can look to that area and automatically see the symbology for it in your monocle," said Capt. Ian Whiteman, 74th FS A-10 pilot. "Then you press a button and all the data you had will slew to your targeting pod, allowing new grids to be created. This minimizes additional time it takes to find what it is you're looking for outside."

For now, only the A-10s and the F-16 Fighting Falcons with Air National Guard and Reserve units are using the HMCS.

The F-16s and F-15 Eagle's had been using a similar helmet model called the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System, which projected the symbology display into a heavy 3/4 inch crystal. The new model generates the display into a low head-borne weight monocle rather than projecting the images from another source in the system. It is also more user-friendly compared to previously fielded models with it being Hands on Throttle-and-Stick (HOTAS) controlled.

The HMCS is now the latest tactical feature for A-10 pilots, furthering the aircrafts distinguished reputation in close-air support and improving enemy deterrence.