Even in the daytime, the life of paratroopers when disembarking from an infantry fighting vehicle or armored personnel carrier depends on the earliest achievement of the maximum level of situational awareness, not to mention landing at night during a battle, when the safety of the landing force almost entirely depends on sensor technologies
For more than a decade, optoelectronic systems have been installed in military vehicles for monitoring and aiming, for example, night vision devices, systems for improving technical vision for the driver, and recently they have integrated all-round vision systems either into new vehicles or as additional systems for upgrades
Nowadays, everything is changing very quickly thanks to the combination of digital sensors and integrated electronic architecture, while there is a clear tendency to install automatically configurable multi-sensor systems that can work seamlessly together in order to provide significantly better situational awareness (the quality of complex perception of heterogeneous information in a single spatial -temporal volume) in comparison with what the crews of armored vehicles, limited in review, had before.
As noted in the Finmeccanica company, today an increased level of knowledge of the situation and the ability to identify, track and mark moving targets in motion is critically important and determines the development and expansion trends of this market. Weapon systems and observation devices directly affect the effectiveness of a combat vehicle in fulfilling its main task, and therefore sensors with the highest characteristics are increasingly in demand.
Meanwhile, progress in microelectronics and optics makes night vision systems more affordable, and in this regard, more and more countries want to create an industrial basis for the production of components for this type of equipment. The driver's needs for night vision systems can mainly be met by short-range sensors (usually uncooled infrared or television cameras), while all-round vision sensors are becoming an integral part of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, since the crew and troops need to have a constant all-round view.
The CV90 BMP, equipped with multiple cameras that provide 24/7 images, serves as an experimental platform for BAE Systems' Battle View 360 augmented reality system, which allows you to obtain a "circular" image and display it on the helmet-mounted displays of the crew and troops
Using helmet-mounted displays, everyone in the vehicle with Battle View 360 augmented reality system receives an all-round view; and it does not have to be derivatives of BAE Systems' Q-Sight and Q-Warrior light guide technologies
Augmented reality
In addition to these key systems that have already proven their worth, the connection of sensors with advanced displays and information management systems allows the crews to move to the world of augmented reality, in which information about their units, the enemy, routes, landmarks can be presented to their attention at the right time. obstacles along with thousands of other messages and information. Although this concept is well known in military aviation, ground vehicles may soon surpass it in this area, since the weight, size, energy consumption and cost characteristics of sensors and computing systems are reduced, and the time and effort spent on the certification process is significantly less than in aviation. …
In addition, as Dan Lindell, head of combat vehicles at the Swedish branch of Hagglunds of BAE Systems, noted, these technologies are changing the machines themselves. "We are redesigning machines to integrate these systems … First, in the last five to six years we have doubled the power distributed in the machine and we see that energy consumption is constantly increasing." The company continues to work on electric and hybrid electric drives (a traditional motor through a generator powers electric motors) for its cars. Lindell argues that the human factor is also important for optoelectronic technology. “How do we represent all this sensory data and images that we want to distribute to the crew? This is a very big problem for us."
A system is currently being developed that places particular emphasis on situational awareness and the integration of human factors. The augmented reality system BattleView 360 is based on a digital mapping system. She collects. Tracks and displays a fragment of the terrain that the crew is interested in. While wearing a helmet with BattleView 360, those sitting in the car get an external "circular" image. At the same time, they promptly receive messages about changes in the situation and target designation to open fire. The combat vehicle crew can interact with BattleView 360 in two ways, via a helmet or a tablet. BAE Systems, in cooperation with its British subsidiary, is currently demonstrating its BattleView 360 system installed on the CV90 BMP in several countries. Program Manager Andy Thain is very familiar with the imaging and situational awareness market for military vehicles. "We definitely see a growing interest across Europe and in the United States, especially in research and development, in situational awareness systems for these combat vehicles, especially for armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and in the future for other types of vehicles."
Mr. Thane said the company has a number of contracts related to various UK and US research projects in which other companies are also involved. "The systems we are developing and studying add capabilities to the driver, gunner and vehicle commander and provide them with significantly better all-round visibility than they have with current periscopes or the very narrow slotted windows common in military vehicles." For the landing party in the rear of the vehicle, mastery of the situation is important, since they need to know what awaits them before disembarking from the vehicle. "It could be every single paratrooper, but most likely a squad leader followed by his subordinates."
In terms of geography, "there is interest and activity in the United States and throughout Europe," Thane noted, for example, all seven CV90 machine operators in Europe (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden) are considering integrating the system. Battle View 360 when upgrading your vehicles. In the United States, military organizations including the Command for Doctrine and Combat Training (TRADOC) and the Communications Electronics Research Center (CERDEC) are working on circular situational awareness systems, as is the British Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).
Integration issues
One of the problems associated with the integration of such technologies is the design features of a specific model of a combat vehicle, for example, for a circular view system, it is necessary to find a place on the hull, supply power and lay data transmission lines. In addition, images from cameras must be displayed to provide simultaneous seamless visualization for everyone in the car; all this requires significant computing power, knowledge of human factors and experience in the development of specialized software.“Processing the data itself is not that big of a problem, the problem is in making displays that are strong enough to be used on military vehicles,” Thane continued. “Our displays were previously installed on jet planes and helicopters. Taking this technology and making them tough and tamper-proof is really challenging, but feasible, because the optical components we have are strong and compact enough."
In this regard, it is worth dwelling on various helmet display technologies, including optical waveguides used in the Q-Sight system of BAE Systems and its modifications, although this does not mean the mandatory integration of Q-Sight technology into the Battle View 360 system, since the company is developing other small rugged display technology. Thane remembered the piquant remarks of the soldiers moving around with the displays on inside the car, especially when they banged their heads on something. "Anyway, we were able to get through these operating conditions."
In addition to the conversion protocols commonly used to deliver data from different sensors of different manufacturers to the same network, there is the problem of image stitching or alignment. “This means combining images from visible and infrared sensors with different principles of operation, different lenses and fields of view, and making them compatible with each other,” said Richard Hadfield, technical lead for Battle View 360 at BAE Systems. "We are zooming in and out of alignment in real time to create a virtual dome and then inserting those sensors into that virtual dome." Another technical problem, mentioned by Hadfield, is the simultaneous tracking of the movement of the heads of several people, because they can look in different directions. He said the company has a solution for this, which includes a tracking device in each helmet and a set of tracking sensors distributed throughout the interior of the vehicle.
The most accurate synchronization with the outside world of the displayed images is one of the most important ergonomic problems. “You need to make sure people using the system don't feel unwell due to latency or latency,” Hadfield said. "We think we got it right and removed the delay, but I can't say how." How users interact with the displays they wear on their heads is also a significant problem, and to solve this, BAE Systems introduced an element based on "highly reliable" MIME (Map and Image Management Engine) software that works effectively with mid-90s on various British military aircraft. “We have adapted this tool for terrestrial use and included a ton of functionality that handles the terrain, so we can, for example, plan routes using terrain characteristics, and it's all feasible for any type of vehicle,” Hadfield added.
Finmeccanica's premium thermal cameras use a third generation high-resolution MCT sensor to provide excellent image quality, day, night and low visibility. These cameras can be integrated into a wide variety of vehicle imaging systems
Information output
The MIME software interacts via the vehicle's communication network with the combat control system and / or the target detection and acquisition system, comparing the received data and filtering it in order to provide each user with the necessary and accurately dosed information and eliminate excessive information load."Getting too much information is almost as bad as providing too little information," Hadfield said. - That is, we have one more task: what should and what should not be seen by a specific person?
Peder Sjolund, BattleView 360 co-developer and program manager at BAE Systems Hagglunds, said they worked with experienced combat vehicle crews to understand what information they need in each situation and what the constraints should be. “We invited a couple of tank and BMP commanders to start a discussion about how much information they can handle in different scenarios,” he said. - One of the scenarios can be a march, and the second can be close combat. If you are on the march, then you are really focused on the route, where the next collection points will be, how long you will be driving, how much fuel is available and what speed is needed to get to the collection point at a given time,”Hadfield added. "But then, as you get closer to the goal, threats begin to appear, then you enter various stages of the combat mission, and obviously the information you see will change."
Sjolund said that the company has combined this incoming information with the concept of helmet-mounted displays for aircraft crews, which is the best way to get useful information for those sitting in the car when the entire interior space is not filled with screens, often there is not enough space or available energy for them, or both. the other at the same time. The module on each helmet has an individual head movement sensor and a device for connecting to a mini-combat control system based on MIME software, which allows each user to display a picture from the correct sensor with the necessary tactical information overlaid.
Most armored vehicles do not allow a good view, therefore camera systems of all types are widespread, most of which include CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) night vision cameras
More sensors
As the company Finmeccanica notes, while the number of sensors installed on military vehicles continues to grow, the combination of technologies is quite stable, although they are constantly being improved. A typical sighting system includes a night vision sensor (usually infrared), a day sight (either optical or television), and a laser rangefinder. To meet special requirements, additional sensors such as laser illuminators / pointers are often integrated. For driver vision and situational awareness systems, television and thermal cameras are sufficient.
Plug and play optronics remain attractive for combat vehicles; for example, this trend is underpinned by the popularity of the POP (Plug-in Optronic Payload) Israel Aerospace Industries family of gyro-stabilized day and night sighting and sighting systems. The POP family includes six systems, each with its own configuration. At the same time, they all have a high level of modularity and can accept special "sections" with those sensors that are determined by the user's requirements. These sections can be field-replaceable if required, and in the future will make it easy to upgrade POP systems as new optocouplers become available.
Uncooled infrared cameras are becoming more popular in “general” applications, such as improving the quality of the driver's vision, but cooled infrared cameras remain a must when high quality imaging is required. As for weapon sights, traditional long-wave (8-12 micron) devices are currently evolving into devices with multiple ranges, that is, by adding medium-wave (3-5 micron) sensors. In some general low-level applications, that is, in tasks where visibility does not play a big role, sensors operating in the near (long-wave) infrared region of the spectrum are currently used along with inexpensive television cameras.
Finmeccanica believes that the technology of manufacturing circuits based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) structures will gradually replace visible CCD cameras, and more exotic technologies such as the far (shortwave) infrared region of the spectrum will be further developed. According to the company, the capabilities of this region of the spectrum are different from the mid-wave and long-wave infrared ranges. It can be useful for some specialized applications, although the relatively high cost may currently limit military demand for it. In addition to advances in technologies based on lesser known wavelengths, continuous advances in sensor technology allow for both cooled and uncooled infrared detectors with smaller arrays, higher resolution and / or smaller optical (aperture) diaphragms.
Typical modern vehicle displays are ruggedized screens with special features to maximize the quality of monochrome images from infrared cameras. The latest systems are networked multifunctional flat panel LCD panels with software that can display multiple images at the same time, superimpose high-resolution graphics and enhance image quality. Their development, driven by the availability of commercial panel technology, is moving towards better picture quality (including higher definition), more internal network bandwidth and more computing power.
Pros and cons
With regard to the development of helmet-mounted displays, Finmeccanica named the strengths and weaknesses of existing technology. Advantages include compactness, the ability to operate with or without a helmet, and relatively low power consumption. Their disadvantages, according to the company, include cost, poor protection from damage, fatigue of the owner and, possibly, limiting the ability to perform certain tasks in the car, as well as the need for a backup device. The conclusion that Finmeccanica made from the analysis of advantages and disadvantages is that in the near future, helmet-mounted displays will not be widely used in military vehicles. However, the company is more optimistic about the prospects for augmented reality (adding imaginary objects to images of objects in the real world, usually an auxiliary-informative property), which can be obtained without helmet-mounted displays. "Augmented reality has tremendous potential as it improves the presentation of information to the crew, which can help with detection and targeting." Not surprisingly, almost all of their customers focused primarily on price and performance, but Finmeccanica emphasizes that these factors depend on the application. Typically, the customer is willing to invest more when system-level solutions are needed (for example, fire control or situational awareness), not only because they are more expensive, but mainly because the requirements are more stringent and this precludes the use of cheaper and less functional equipment from suppliers of the lower segment. With less stringent requirements, the emphasis on cost allows for a wider range of competing suppliers.
Experts' opinions
Emmanuelle Bercier, head of sales for uncooled thermal imaging company ULIS, a subsidiary of French infrared technology company Sofradir, has noticed that military demands are becoming more specific in terms of desired functionality. This includes improved vision systems for drivers, increased local situational awareness to protect vehicles, and integration into remotely controlled weapon stations (RWMs), for example, for weapon guidance. “We see two main challenges,” Bercier continued. - First, improving performance in order to obtain a larger field of view, for example, 180 degrees for the driver's vision system, or increasing the recognition range of the local situational awareness system and DUBM … Second, the development of equipment with smaller dimensions, lighter, with less power consumption. While we sometimes deal with large machines, the available volume for any equipment is always a problem."
In terms of potentially disruptive new technologies, Mr Bercier believes that CMOS sensors covering the visible spectrum and near infrared are a good candidate for future all-weather driver vision devices, and the same applies to shortwave infrared systems. “New technologies will be challenging to achieve the required level of maturity and qualifications for these kinds of applications. We will see what happens in the next ten years, but thermal imaging sensors are already based on proven technologies that continue to increase both capabilities and reduce costs.”
When asked where, from a geographic point of view, the entire development and procurement process is being carried out, Dan Lindell said that the West speaks and conducts tests, while the East already supplies finished products. “We see that many things that are discussed and shown at exhibitions are really being integrated in Russia, as well as in China. We see quite clear needs for systems of this type in Southeast Asia, while Western countries are talking and trying to do something, some to a lesser extent, some to a greater."
