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.

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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.

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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.

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