Collins Aerospace
Helmet-Mounted Display Systems and sustainment
Prepared to support: Enhanced Power and Cooling Systems (EPACS)
The F-35: More than a fighter jet
How RTX helps turn the fifth-gen fighter into a force multiplier
U.S. Navy fighter pilot Jeff “Bangs” Fellows was out of munitions – but not out of the fight.
In any other fighter jet, he might have had reason to head back to base and wait to see how the training mission played out.
But that day off the coast of California, Fellows was flying an F-35C, and, following a furious first sweep of the airspace, he and the other F-35 pilots pivoted.
Now that they were done being the muscle, it was time for them to drop back and serve as the messengers.
Knowing the F-35’s sophisticated sensors could take in a trove of data and share it with the squadron – giving them a better picture of the airspace and a higher chance of success – they demonstrated the F-35’s key advantage: Not only is it a fighter in its own right, it can lend that power to every other part of the joint force.
“The F-35 gives you that room to quickly adapt and maneuver to either counter the threat or take advantage of a weakness you can perceive,” said Fellows, who now works as a Requirements & Capabilities director in Advanced Technology at Raytheon, an RTX business. “Being in that quarterback role, there’s still a lot of breathing room to flex as the battlespace flexes.”
Here are some of the ways RTX businesses support the F-35 program:
Pratt & Whitney
F135 engine
Engine sustainment
Future: Engine Core Upgrade (ECU)
Raytheon
Next-generation Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System (EODAS)
Munitions
- AIM-120 AMRAAM missile
- AIM-9X SIDEWINDER missile
- StormBreaker smart weapon
- Paveway bomb
Delivering air dominance
RTX businesses give the F-35 its power to operate like no fighter jet has before. Meet three aviators who flew the F-35, taught others to fly it and now – as part of RTX – use their expertise to support customers.
Ted “Vader” Dempsey | Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel
Flew the F-15C Eagle and F-35A Lightning II
Customer Engagement & Strategic Transformation | Collins Aerospace
Rick “Slash” Crecelius | Retired U.S. Navy Captain
Flew the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18C Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and the F-35C Lightning II
Military Engines | Pratt & Whitney
Jeff “Bangs” Fellows | Retired U.S. Navy Commander
Flew the F-16A/B Fighting Falcon, F/A-18C Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and the F-35C Lightning II
Advanced Technology | Raytheon
On every front, RTX is invested in keeping the F-35 equipped with modern systems to take on the demands of tomorrow’s battlespace.
A new way to cool tomorrow’s jets
At Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, engineers say their Enhanced Power and Cooling System – EPACS for short – can provide the increased power and cooling that tomorrow’s fighter jets will require. And they have the data to back up the claim.
As Collins’ proposed Power and Thermal Management System upgrade for the F-35, EPACS hardware has shown in a lab setting that it can deliver 80 kilowatts of cooling capacity – more than twice that of current onboard systems. That more efficient thermodynamic cycle gives the F-35 headroom for upgraded avionics, radars and mission systems as its needs evolve.
EPACS fast facts:
- Demonstrated 80kW of cooling capacity (~2.5 times more than current system)
- Efficient thermal cycle lowers bleed air demand, reducing fuel burn and increasing range
- Meets all other current F-35 PTMS requirements
Airspace intel, right before your eyes
Flying the F-35 comes with a learning curve. Not only do pilots need to get used to how it handles, but they also need to get used to the way it handles the massive amounts of information its sensors generate.
Traditionally, that type of information shows up on the instrument panel, or a head-up display – a forerunner of augmented reality that projects data onto a glasslike panel.
But on the F-35, climbing into the cockpit and putting on the F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System, or HMDS, feels more like becoming part of the aircraft. Data comes in fast, delivered to the visor built into the helmet.
Ted “Vader” Dempsey, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, flew operational test and training missions on the F-35. He said having that much display material coming in was a big adjustment.“When you start the transition over from flying, say, an F-15 to an F-35, the first day of academics you hear ‘this is not a better way to do what you used to do,’” said Dempsey, who is now part of the Customer Engagement & Strategic Transformation Office for Collins. “This is totally different, and we’re going to take it as a totally different mindset.”
Collins doesn’t make the outer shell of the helmet but is responsible for the systems inside. Each HMDS is custom fit for each pilot, with sensors calibrated for head shape and eyesight requirements. Collins also provides sustainment support, to ensure the integrity of the hardware and circuitry inside are working properly over time.
“It was a phenomenal helmet,” Dempsey added. “The helmet’s fidelity – and your acclimation to it over time – will give you a lot of different pieces of warfighting prowess.”
Each custom-fit F-35 Gen III Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS), delivers critical data directly to the F-35 pilot’s visor – allowing for 360-degree situational awareness. The HMDS is manufactured through a joint venture between Collins Aerospace and Elbit Systems of America.
Helmet Mounted Display Systems (HMDS) fast facts:
- Data is delivered to pilot’s visor, rather than the traditional head-up display in a fourth-gen fighter
- Helmets are lightweight and comfortable, custom-fit for each pilot
- Reduces pilot fatigue and workload during longer and more demanding missions
“All of the systems on the platform – from navigation, getting you in a contested environment where you want to go, to the sensor suites giving you the ability to see different things – were totally revolutionary. The F-35 brought an asymmetric advantage that was like nothing I had ever seen. You were looking from the inside out at a world of everything.”
In his words
Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Ted “Vader” Dempsey
Customer Engagement & Strategic Transformation | Collins Aerospace
Proven engine power and performance
For 25 years, U.S. Navy fighter pilot Rick “Slash” Crecelius had flown only twin-engine fighters. The redundancy gave him peace of mind – if one engine ever were to fail, he always had the other to get him home.
So when the Navy asked him to switch to the F-35, a single-engine fighter powered by the Pratt & Whitney F135, he was apprehensive.
Until he fired it up.
“It’s a propulsion system that’s more heavily integrated into the aircraft, its mission and its life-support systems, than any other airplane before it – and it shows when you get in the airplane,” said Crecelius, who now works in the Military Engines portfolio for Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business.
“You really don’t understand how integrated all the systems are until you jump in and strap on, you know, 40,000 pounds of fire-breathing dragon. And then you’re like, holy smokes, this thing, everything works together gracefully.”
The Pratt & Whitney F135 engine powers all variants of the F-35 and traces its development cycle to Pratt’s F119 engine, which powers the F-22 Raptor. The evolution of the two fifth-generation engines is part of Pratt’s 100-year legacy of innovation for both military and commercial propulsion.
Fast facts
1 P&W F135 engine
~ 40,000 pounds of thrust
1 million
Flight hours
Flight hours
Leveling up engine performance
Crecelius credits Pratt’s Military Engines team for ensuring the F135 engine he flew with and relied on in his military career stays mission-ready for the evolving needs of the F-35.
Pratt’s recent Engine Core Upgrade, or ECU, brings additional power and thermal management capabilities to the F135 propulsion system, something he knows will be crucial when it comes to meeting tomorrow’s requirements for weapon systems and sensors.
“The F-35 is realizing its potential,” he said. “And the F135 ECU enables that potential.”
F135 ECU fast facts:
- Fully enables Block 4 and beyond capabilities
- Can provide more bleed flow for power and cooling
- Supports all three variants of the F-35 and is retrofittable to already fielded F-35s
“The F-35 is the most advanced strike fighter and electronic warfare platform in the world. So, it’s critically important to take advantage of its current capability, but also to realize its future potential. Not just to us at Pratt & Whitney, but to the warfighters that go into harm’s way. And, I’d say, even to mom-and-pop Americans that are counting on us to deliver leading-edge capabilities so that all the things we hold dear here at home are secure and protected.” Crecelius (left) stands with his father, also a U.S. Naval aviator, after the two had the rare opportunity to fly together in an F-14A.
In his words
Retired U.S. Navy Captain Rick “Slash” Crecelius
Military Engines | Pratt & Whitney
Big-picture situational awareness
The F-35’s integrated sensor package is built around a network of cameras, placed strategically around the aircraft exterior, giving pilots 360-degree views of the airspace. Made by Raytheon, the system’s full name is the Distributed Aperture System – in pilot’s shorthand, it’s simply called the “DAS.”
When flying the F-35 at night, Fellows said the DAS sensing technology allowed him to maneuver his aircraft as aggressively as he needed to – just the way he would during the day. Instead of looking down and seeing the floor of the cockpit, he had unobstructed views of the entire airspace around his aircraft. No more night goggles.
“I knew where the ground was, where the horizon was, where my flight members were,” said Fellows. “It could laser lock my eyes into the right piece of sky immediately. From a pilot’s perspective, it made flying in non-daylight conditions very comfortable.”
The next generation of the technology, Raytheon’s Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System, called EODAS (EE-oh-das) integrates six infrared cameras that send real-time, high-resolution images of the airspace directly to the pilot’s visor inside the helmet.
“In the cockpit of an F-35 – you’re going to have a lot of problem-solving tools available to you that you previously did not. In an F-18, you may have only the knife drawer. In an F-35, it’s like having access to the whole kitchen. There's no part of the of the spectrum that isn't available to you.”
In his words
Retired U.S. Navy Commander Jeff “Bangs” Fellows
Advanced Technology | Raytheon
Munitions for every type of mission
All variants of the F-35 are equipped with different kinds of Raytheon munitions, depending on the needs of a particular mission.
Fellows, a TOPGUN weapons school alumnus and instructor, said the integration of sensor information coming from his own plane, combined with data coming in from his peers in the airspace, created a kind of 360-degree, three-dimensional model of situational awareness.
“Now I know exactly where the target is – left, right, up, down,” he said. “Now I’m so confident in that, I’m willing to pass that location off to a weapon and know my weapon is going to find it.”
The F-35 stealth fighter has a reputation around the world for its unmatched lethality – in large part because of its onboard arsenal.
Weapon systems on the F-35:
AMRAAM Missile
Combat-proven in both the air-to-air and surface-to-air arena. With built-in seeking and guidance capabilities, pilots can engage a target from a distance then quickly leave the area without being detected. In support of the U.S. Air Force’s F3R (Form, Fit, Function Refresh) program, Raytheon is advancing technology to bring even more processing power to the missile’s guidance sections.
Learn more
AIM-9X SIDEWINDER Missile
Can be used for air-to-air engagements and surface-launch missions without modifications. The advanced infrared-tracking, short-range missile is combat-proven in several theaters around the world.
Learn more
StormBreaker Smart Weapon
Raytheon’s network-enabled “smart” weapon, which allows for onboard or remote operations. Its seeker technology expands deployment options for ground missions – especially in low-visibility environments.
Learn more
Staying ready and relevant
Crecelius believes everything that enables the F-35’s success serves a single, key priority: helping the U.S. and its allies maintain a competitive advantage.
“We need to make sure we’re giving the warfighter the most reliable, most lethal equipment we possibly can,” he said. “So when we ask them to go into harm’s way, we know we’ve done right by the men and women that volunteer to be on the very tip – the pointy tip of the spear.”
Platform variants:
F-35A Lightning II
Conventional takeoffs and landings
Primary customers: U.S. Air Force and international allies
F-35B Lightning II
Short-runway takeoffs and vertical landings
Primary customers: U.S. Marine Corps, the U.K. and other international allies
F-35C Lightning II
Aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings
Customer: U.S. Navy
F-35A U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicholas Rupiper. F-35B U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Darian Lord. F-35C U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Remo. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
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