Türkiye to present new HETS laser system for its attack helicopters VIDEO

The Active Helicopter Obstacle Detection System (HETS) project signed between the Defenсe Industry Authority and Meteksan Defenсe has come to an end and will be presented for the first time at the company's booth at the IDEF 2023 exhibition with an updated design.

Helicopters, which have a higher risk of colliding with obstacles at low altitudes compared to other aerial platforms, need special systems to avoid these threats. In Türkiye, both civilian and military helicopters have repeatedly crashed due to collisions with obstacles, Caliber.Az reports, citing SavunmaSanayiST.com on Twitter.

Helikopter Kazaları, HETS ile engellenecek!

Türk mühendisleri tarafından, özellikle zorlu görüş şartlarında görev yapan askeri helikopterler için 'Helikopter Engel Tespit Sistemi (HETS)' geliştirildi

Kolaylıkla helikopterlerin burun kısmına entegre edilecek lazer tabanlı HETS… pic.twitter.com/W6yjGbNbhs

— SavunmaSanayiST.com (@SavunmaSanayiST) July 13, 2023

The HETS helicopter obstacle detection system was developed by Turkish engineers specifically for military helicopters operating in low visibility conditions. In these conditions, obstacle detection in the field and timely warning play an important role in preventing accidents. HETS, developed using a 1.55 nm fibre laser to meet this need, can detect obstacles, including wires, and provide pilots with audible/visual warnings.

Distinctive features of the system include low power consumption and lightweight, as well as support for various interfaces for easy integration to different platforms.

The HETS system, which detects horizontal and vertical obstacles, including 5mm diameter wires, by scanning 2 times per second in a 30*40 degree field of view, has an instrument range of 1500 meters.

This system, warns the pilot of obstacles at the right time with highly sensitive signal processing and convenient visual creation capability together with LIDAR technology. In addition to the visual warning, it can produce an audible alarm.

The HETS system supports MIL-STD-1553, RS-422 and ARINC-429 interfaces for use in integrated structures as well as video creation for multi-function displays. It is possible to use a separate dashboard.