The Lockheed Martin Pathfinder flight team established operations at Felker Army Airfield, Fort Eustis, VA, this week in preparation for the system’s developmental and limited-user evaluation by the U.S. Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate. Army aircrews will evaluate the Pathfinder system, a state-of the-art pilotage sensor for cargo and utility aircraft.

This evaluation phase, expected to last through November, will assess Pathfinder’s performance as a fully integrated advanced pilotage sensor on a U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) HH-60L Black Hawk MEDEVAC helicopter. Lockheed Martin will lead an industry team that includes BAE Systems, Elbit-Fort Worth and Thales.

Pathfinder leverages existing combat-proven technology from the Lockheed Martin Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system, also known as Arrowhead, currently integrated and deployed on the AH-64D Apache helicopter. Pathfinder significantly increases situational awareness and reduces pilot workload through an eyes-forward, eyes-out, helmet-mounted display.

As part of the upcoming evaluation exercises, HH-60L pilots will use all of Pathfinder’s superior situational awareness features in an operational environment.

With its wide field of view, Pathfinder is the only forward-looking infrared system designed and developed specifically to support terrain flight and critical operations in degraded landing areas. Its high definition resolution allows pilots to fly at safer altitudes and airspeeds while providing necessary information to complete complex missions while avoiding obstacles such as wires, poles, and trees.

The Pathfinder turret mounts readily on the helicopter’s chin using a kit consisting of three line-replaceable modules. Eleven of the 14 line-replaceable modules are entirely common with the AH-64D Apache’s M-PNVS system, creating a unique synergy with the established M-TADS/PNVS production line and performance based logistics sustainment.