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TopOwl is currently in full-scale production and Thales has delivered more than 400 systems to both US and International customers. TopOwl has been selected by 15 nations and more than 1500 will be delivered over the next 10 years.

At the beginning of October, Thales announced that it has been selected by Eurocopter España for the supply of 48 TopOwl Helmet Mounted Sight and Displays for use by the Spanish Army Aviation Tiger helicopter crews. This selection comes close on the heels of Spain's recent acquisition of 24 Tiger helicopters. Spain is now the 15th country to have selected the Thales TopOwl Helmet system for use by its armed forces' helicopter crews.
TopOwl will help to ensure mission success by offering Spanish aircrews unprecedented capabilities on tactical operations and possible engagements conducted in daylight or at night. The Helmet Mounted Sight and Display is based on a unique concept incorporating a night vision system with a 100% overlapped projection of a binocular image on the visor. Standard symbology is used to display flight and weapon management data, helping to reduce crew workload. TopOwl's head position sensor, used during target designation and weapon firing sequences, enhances operational effectiveness. Pilots particularly appreciate the low weight and perfect balance of the ergonomically designed helmet sight.

Thales TopOwl Helicopter Helmet Mounted Display was selected to participate in the demonstration of Lockheed Martin's Modernized Pilot Night Vision System to different US military organizations.
The tour of US bases, which took place this year, demonstrated the capabilities of the Modernized Pilot Night Vision System, that required a helmet system capable of providing high accuracy head tracking and high resolution LCD based displays. TopOwl, already in service with the US Marines, was selected by Lockheed Martin for this important capability demonstrator after a thorough evaluation of other helmet-mounted display systems. The Thales TopOwl Helmet Mounted Sight and Display was used to demonstrate the utility of helmet projected high resolution FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) video on an U.S. Army UH-1 test-bed aircraft.
These demonstration flights, carried out under the name "Pathfinder" used TopOwl's capability to show high resolution FLIR video corrected for head roll but the system offers many other advantages, including:
· Integrated image intensifiers that may be selected via a cockpit or HOCAS (Hand On Collective And Stick) mounted switch.
· Capability of developing and displaying virtually unlimited symbology corrected for head position.