Virtual Visual Landing Aid for Rotorcraft Recovery (V2LAR2)

Operational utility for ship-based rotorcraft is often limited by weather conditions that can influence sea states, wind over deck (WOD) and airwake turbulence, and pilot visibility. Recent advances in Visual Landing Aid (VLA) design have made strides in providing better situational awareness to pilots operating at night and in inclement weather, but still require visual contact between the pilot and the ship superstructure to be effective. The proposed research program will extend recent work at CDI on computer-based VLA design tools to provide a head-down display symbology and virtual representation of the ship to support landing operations in zero/zero (visibility/altitude) conditions onto a ship deck. The design of the display representation will include information on deck motion energy and landing suitability, and will be supported by consultants who are subject matter experts in deck motion displays, shipboard recovery, and human factors and flight display design. The resulting display system will, at the completion of Phase I/II development, provide greatly enhanced operational readiness for rotorcraft operating from"small deck"ship platforms.