Boeing

The Boeing Company yesterday received a $33.6 million U.S. Defense Department contract to produce 131 additional Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems, or JHMCS, continuing the program's progress through low-rate initial production.

Greece's Hellenic Air Force will receive 55 of the systems for its F-16s. The U.S. Navy will get 39 for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets while the U.S. Air Force will get 28 for its F-16s and nine for F-15s.

Deliveries begin in mid-2002 and are to be completed about a year later. The contract also includes a spare F-15 system, and options for Greece to order up to 10 additional systems and the Royal Australian Air Force to order six.

"Guided by the leadership of the Joint Program Office, Boeing and its industry partners are providing militaries with a revolutionary capability that dramatically improves combat capability and survivability," said Stephen Winkler, the Boeing Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System program manager.

JHMCS continually displays flight information on the inside of helmet visors, keeping that data in sight at all times. It also allows aiming or deploying sensors and air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons with little more effort than looking at a target and pressing a switch.

The U.S. military, expected to order approximately 1,500 systems, plans to install JHMCS on F-15,F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft. Boeing is the primary integrator for JHMCS while Vision Systems International manufactures the system.

This is the second Joint Helmet low-rate production contract Boeing has received in the past year. In August the company was awarded a $10.4 million contract to produce 37 JHMCSs for the Super Hornet.

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