Three additional helicopters for the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) will be equipped with obstacle warning systems under a new contract with EADS Defence & Security.
For the first time, the RTAF will install the helicopter laser radar (HELLAS) systems on board Sikorsky S-92 helicopters.
HELLAS will allow the pilots to detect obstacles such as high-voltage power lines and enable missions to be carried out even in low-visibility conditions.
It will use a laser beam to scan the airspace ahead of the helicopter, and detect extremely thin wires with a high accuracy from distances of up to 1,000m.
The system will show a grey-scale, in-depth image of the landscape in front of the helicopter on the HELLAS display.
It will also display potential obstacles in red to identify and warn of danger.
Defence Electronics CEO Bernd Wenzler said HELLAS enabled pilots to detect and avoid the smallest of obstacles, even when visibility was bad, offering protection against a major cause of helicopter accidents.
