F/A-18 Aircraft Canopy Reflections

Reflections of cockpit instruments by the canopy can interfere with pilot's external vision, especially at night. This degradation in vision threatens mission success and crew safety. Pacific-Sierra Research Corporation (PSR) proposes to review and analyze a broad range of techniques which offer the potential to reduce F/A-18 aircraft canopy reflections, including canopy treatments and passive optical instrument/display faceplates. Several novel candidate technologies are identified, and the proposed effort will search for additional ones. One potentially useful approach, passive optical faceplates, could be O-level retrofit compatible to any size or shape of instrument or display. They are inherently fail-safe, require no power, are easy to maintain and will not increase pilot workload. These and other especially promising candidate technologies will be compared using a computer model and measures of effectiveness that consider optical transmission, resolution, canopy reflection reduction, and robustness. Manufacturability will also be considered, as PSR is committed to further development of these technologies. A large commercial market exists in secure video displays and commercial aviation displays.