Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System
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Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) is a US joint service helmet mounted display produced by VSI under contract to Boeing which projects information similar to head up display on the visor thereby allowing the aircrew to cue the weapons system to the direction the head is pointing and obtain situational awareness wherever the head is looking. JHMCS development was initiated as a result of the need for the AIM-9X high off boresight air-to-air missile to receive cueing inputs well away from the aircraft boresight and display seeker head position outside the HUD field of view thereby achieving valid launch parameters for the AIM-9X.
ASELSAN of Turkey has also developed a similar system called the AVCI Helmet Integrated Cueing System. It is evisaged that the ASELSAN JHMCS will be incorporated in Turkey's F-16 CCIP program upgrade. Such system will also be utilised in the T-129 Turkish Attack Helicopter.
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[edit] ACEVAL/AIMVAL
Although the VTAS HMS was flown in the 1974-78 ACEVAL/AIMVAL JT&E by F-14 and F-15 fighters and received praise for its effectiveness in targeting off boresight missile concepts in AIMVAL, the US did not pursue fielding of VTAS in either aircraft or a high off boresight missiles although VTAS was integrated into the Navy F-4 Phantom.
[edit] The threat
The Soviet Union observed the ACEVAL/AIMVAL JT&E and embarked on a crash program to counter the technology. As a result, the MiG-29 was fielded in 1985 with a HMS and a high off-boresight weapon (AA-11 Archer/R-73) giving them the advantage in close in maneuvering engagements.
[edit] The response
Several nations responding with programs to counter the MiG-29/HMS/AA-11 combination once its effectiveness was known principally through access to former East German MiG-29 assets that were then operated by the unified German Air Force. Israel fielded Python 4 and the DASH cueing system. Initially, ASRAAM was to be the US-UK-German response, but technical difficulties led to the US embarking on AIM-9X with Navy as lead service in 1990 and shortly thereafter initiating JHMCS with the Air Force as lead service. The Air Force fielded JHMCS with AIM-9X in November 2003 with the 12th and 19th Fighter Squadrons at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. The Navy conducted RDT&E on the F/A-18C as lead platform for JHMCS, but fielded it first on the F/A-18E and F aircraft of VFA-14 and VFA-41 respectively in time for OIF in 2003. The USAF is also integrating JHMCS into its F-16 aircraft. Joint Strike Fighter also features a HMD developed by VSI with even more advanced features. This is to the point that the HMD will replace the HUD on the F-35, making it the first combat jet to fly without a HUD for years.
