February 21, 2014
The United States is outfitting hundreds of armed Apache helicopters with new technology more advanced than what’s available on other rotorcraft, and the Pentagon says the upgrades will allow chopper gunners to strike targets with unmatched accuracy.
Up until now, the Pentagon’s fleet of Apache helicopters was equipped with a system that only allowed crewmembers to see activity on the ground in blurry black-and-white video. On Wednesday this week, though, the US Army unveiled new technology being installed on its AH-64 Apaches that allow those in the cockpit to peer back at the earth from miles off the ground and watch what’s happening in high-definition color.
“This additional situational awareness . . . will give soldiers what they need to make the right decisions on the battlefield,” Army Lieutenant Colonel Steven Van Riper — the product manager for the Apache sensors – said at Wednesday’s event, according to Reuters.
Those new capabilities are being made possible specifically due to upgrade on the Apache’s Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor, or M-TADS/PNVS — the aircraft’s precision targeting and pilotage system.
“We are looking forward to the reliability and maintainability improvements that this laser will bring to the M-TADS system,” Van Riper said in a statement this week. “This system will help to further reduce the burden on our aircrews, as they will be able to reap the benefits of the performance improvements.”