The ultimate death stare: New RAF helmet allows pilots to shoot down enemy jets by looking at them



Pilot can glance at an aircraft he wants to fire a missile at by using his mind

It looks no more high-tech than any other fighter pilot helmet.

But this £250,000 headset allows RAF pilots to shoot down planes simply by looking at them.

The ‘Striker’ Integrated Display Helmet marks one of the biggest leaps forward in attack capabilities in military history.

How it works: The £250,000 'Striker' Integrated Display Helmet allows RAF pilots to shoot down planes simply by looking at them. As long as the enemy's aircraft is in sight, a missile can be directed towards it

All a pilot has to do is glance at an enemy aircraft and then steer a missile towards it with his, or her, mind.

Targets pop-up in the pilot's visor, at which point he can select by voice command and fire.

As long as the enemy's aircraft is in sight - whether that be below, above or to either side - a missile can be directed towards it.

The breakthrough brings to an end the century-old concept of the aerial dogfight, in which one plane must be directly behind another in order to hit it with firepower.



The innovative two-part helmet design has been co-developed with aircrew and logistic support engineering participation.

It works by using tiny optical sensors in the Striker helmet, which are then picked up by further sensors in the cockpit.

In flight: The helmet has undergone extensive testing in RAF Typhoon aircraft

'It means the end of the dogfight,' leading pilot Mark Bowman told The Sun.

'Traditionally you have to get behind an aircraft to lock on. With this, I steer the weapons with my head.'



The helmet has been developed by Britain's BAE Systems and has been subjected to extensive flight trials in RAF Typhoon planes.

A spokesperson for BAE said: 'An advanced optical head tracker is integrated into the helmet system to provide a high accuracy/low latency solution for low, medium, and high altitude operations.

'While the system has been designed for the Eurofighter Typhoon, its modular design can be applied to all platforms, both rotary and fixed wing.'