The behind-the-scenes story of Thales’s Helmet-Mounted Sights & Displays

  • Civil Aviation
  • Civil helicopter

© Thales

  • Type Insight
  • Published
  • Last updated

Thales’s Helmet-Mounted Sights & Displays are at the forefront of pilot technology, offering enhanced vision, mission control, and real-time combat capabilities. At the Bordeaux assembly line, cutting-edge expertise meets lean production methods, delivering innovative TopOwl and Scorpion systems to armed forces worldwide.

With over 1,700 systems delivered, Thales’s Helmet-Mounted Sights & Displays have become a key asset for helicopter and fighter pilots. More than just a helmet, these advanced vision systems integrate high-definition displays, mission guidance, and night vision to provide pilots with a decisive operational advantage

More than just a helmet: an advanced mission system. The TopOwl and Scorpion systems don’t just display flight data—they integrate aircraft systems, motion tracking, and real-time battlefield awareness into a single, pilot-centric interface.

Innovative and ultra-precise modeling techniques and technologies are used to tailor the inner shell of the helmet to the exact shape and size of the head of each individual pilot, and also to fine-tune the optical capabilities so they are in perfect alignment with the pilot’s line of sight and the external environment. However, the systems, which are used by the armed forces of 15 different countries, are much more than just a helmet and its display module.

Versatility, autonomy and Lean methods

The systems are assembled on the Bordeaux line by a 30-strong team that brings together various trades and specialties, encompassing fields as varied as electronics, opto-mechanics, logistics, industrial methods, quality, Lean methodology, and production team management. The digitization of processes and real-time monitoring is taking root, in particular in order to transmit data to other players working upstream or downstream around the helmet displays.Good results have been forthcoming, with higher-than-ever levels of customer-focused performance in terms of quality and on-time delivery that can be attributed to the organization, rigour, skillsets, management support and the resources that have been implemented.

"A helmet sight displays flight information, guides mission and combat systems with head movements, and enables night vision. For each function, the new-generation TopOwl DD offers a real advantage thanks to its digital display, replacing the analog one. Pilots will now benefit from a high definition image in front of their eyes!"

Christophe Coupeaud - Heads up the assembly line