Why Are We Still Having Issues With Flight Crew Helpmets?
I am personally not a fan of NAVAIR when it comes to Aircrew equipment and ALSS. NAVAIR insists that many flight equipment requirements for Naval Aviation are unique - and for that we have paid dearly in equipment that is less than optimal - while our colleagues in AF, Army and USCG get exactly what they need. Look at the abortion that was the SV-2/LPU combination as an example. We lived with that outmoded design for decades while our sister services saw the light.
Helmets are a particular pain point for Navy and Marine Corp pilots, NFO, and aircrew. Why NAVAIR does not adopt standard AF and Army designs is a complete mystery and lack of logic in my opinion. Even the USCG - who does as much over water operations as we do - have adopted AF and Army designs.
And when we do fund and adopt a unique design,by the time it gets to the field it is bastardized beyond what the manufacturer intended.
Look at the HGU-84/P helo helmet: Here's how Gentex designed to be used and deployed:
Notice the lack of 3M metallic reflective tape on the outside. Gentex designed this helmet to have a 2" square of IR tape velcroed to the top of the helmet - and after extensive studies, determined the NAVAIR requirement for visually refelctive tape was an unneccessary hold over from days past. So in the early 90's when this helmet was deployed it was delivered with a special light weight OD green coating. What did our well meaning PR's do? Well cover the thing with heavy metallic based reflective tape on 100% of the outside surfaces. Ruining millions of dollars in development and superseding the design vision the engineers at GENTEX had in mind.
The Navy should adopt the HGU-55 for fixed wing guys and the HGU-56 for Helo folks - unchanged, as did the AF, Army, and Coasties - that is my argument - and give us the best, lightest weight protection, with supplies and spares that leverage the entire DOD supply system - no shortages! These helmets are "best in class" regardless if you are on land or sea. But of course this flies in the face of the NAVAIR motto - "If we didn't think of it, it can't be any good"
I am personally not a fan of NAVAIR when it comes to Aircrew equipment and ALSS. NAVAIR insists that many flight equipment requirements for Naval Aviation are unique - and for that we have paid dearly in equipment that is less than optimal - while our colleagues in AF, Army and USCG get exactly what they need. Look at the abortion that was the SV-2/LPU combination as an example. We lived with that outmoded design for decades while our sister services saw the light.
Helmets are a particular pain point for Navy and Marine Corp pilots, NFO, and aircrew. Why NAVAIR does not adopt standard AF and Army designs is a complete mystery and lack of logic in my opinion. Even the USCG - who does as much over water operations as we do - have adopted AF and Army designs.
And when we do fund and adopt a unique design,by the time it gets to the field it is bastardized beyond what the manufacturer intended.
Look at the HGU-84/P helo helmet: Here's how Gentex designed to be used and deployed:
Notice the lack of 3M metallic reflective tape on the outside. Gentex designed this helmet to have a 2" square of IR tape velcroed to the top of the helmet - and after extensive studies, determined the NAVAIR requirement for visually refelctive tape was an unneccessary hold over from days past. So in the early 90's when this helmet was deployed it was delivered with a special light weight OD green coating. What did our well meaning PR's do? Well cover the thing with heavy metallic based reflective tape on 100% of the outside surfaces. Ruining millions of dollars in development and superseding the design vision the engineers at GENTEX had in mind.
The Navy should adopt the HGU-55 for fixed wing guys and the HGU-56 for Helo folks - unchanged, as did the AF, Army, and Coasties - that is my argument - and give us the best, lightest weight protection, with supplies and spares that leverage the entire DOD supply system - no shortages! These helmets are "best in class" regardless if you are on land or sea. But of course this flies in the face of the NAVAIR motto - "If we didn't think of it, it can't be any good"
