Rockwell Collins marks F-35 milestone

Rockwell Collins on Tuesday marked delivery of the first third-generation helmet-mounted display system for pilots flying the F-35, the nation's most advanced fighter jet.

The high tech helmet, specially fitted to each pilot, provides them with 360-degree situational awareness and allows them to 'look through' the aircraft. The jet's Distributed Aperture System, made by Northrop Grumman, streams real-time images from six infrared cameras mounted around the aircraft to the helmet.

'This is really cool technology,' said Kelly Ortberg, Rockwell Collins president and CEO, at the company's Cedar Rapids headquarters. 'It's going to change the game in terms of how fighter jets are flown in the future.'

Rockwell Collins, through its joint venture, Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems LLC, also developed the second-generation helmet that F-35 pilots use. More than 200 of the helmets have been delivered for pilots being trained to fly the aircraft.

Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-35 joint strike fighter, selected Rockwell Collins to supply the helmet-mounted display system. All the information that pilots need to complete their mission is projected on the helmet's visor.

Steve Callaghan, director of the F-35 program with Lockheed Martin's Washington operations, said the aircraft's cost has dropped 57 percent from the initial low rate production delivery to the present time.

'By 2019, we will be delivering the fifth-generation fighter for about the same price as you can buy today's fourth-generation aircraft,' Callaghan said. 'A big part of the cost reduction will be ramping up our production rates. We delivered 36 jets last year, we're on track to deliver 45 jets this year, and over the next several years we will be delivering 150 jets per year.'

Phil Jasper, executive vice president and COO of Rockwell Collins Government Systems, said the company expects to provide thousands of the high tech helmets for the F-35.

'Every pilot gets their own helmet and generations of pilots will be trained for the F-35 program,' Jasper said.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who attended Tuesday's event at Rockwell Collins, said the F-35 joint strike fighter will be an extremely important player in national defense.

'Having served in our armed forces for over 20 years, I know just how important it is to have access to the weapons and systems necessary to give us the edge over our adversaries,' said Ernst, a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard.