Could be that their night vision goggles are lacking minus blue filters in their optics.. or that the wavelength of the filters does not match the wavelength of the cockpit lighting...
By: djcross
- 20th January 2016 at 02:32Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
NVGs weren't big in aviation until the 1980s. It isn't surprising that 1970s cockpit displays on a Tornado cannot be dimmed enough to be compatible with NVGs.
By: mrmalaya
- 20th January 2016 at 06:51Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Could be that their night vision goggles are lacking minus blue filters in their optics.. or that the wavelength of the filters does not match the wavelength of the cockpit lighting...
Could it be that they havent planned and resourced and trained very well? If you think that your frontline aircraft are going to be used in anything other than exercises, then you equip them for that eventuality surely?
By: swerve
- 20th January 2016 at 12:59Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
NVGs weren't big in aviation until the 1980s. It isn't surprising that 1970s cockpit displays on a Tornado cannot be dimmed enough to be compatible with NVGs.
Really? It wasn't a problem for the RAF 25 years ago, so why should it be a problem for the Luftwaffe now?
And Luftwaffe (& other) Tornados don't have 1970s displays nowadays. All updated to LCD displays, like the Italians.
By: Siddar
- 20th January 2016 at 14:07Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Really? It wasn't a problem for the RAF 25 years ago, so why should it be a problem for the Luftwaffe now?
And Luftwaffe (& other) Tornados don't have 1970s displays nowadays. All updated to LCD displays, like the Italians.
So it seems putting those two sentences together that the new displays are actually worse in regards to NVG use than the old displays from the seventies.
So whoever did the upgrade simply ignored the need for there use in combination with NVG. Makes sense modern cockpits are full of flat panel displays. Those displays are much larger light sources than the older displays. If you ignored the need to use NVG when designing them then it is not surprising that the new displays render NVG unusable.
By: eagle
- 20th January 2016 at 18:34Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
NVG compatibility apparently was not an ASSTA 3 requirement so it should come as no surprise the jet can't do what it wasn't asked to do.
ASSTA 3.1 will add NVG compatibility afaik.
By: TomcatViP
- 20th January 2016 at 19:16Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
NVG compatibility apparently was not an ASSTA 3 requirement so it should come as no surprise the jet can't do what it wasn't asked to do.
ASSTA 3.1 will add NVG compatibility afaik.
So, they seriously send airplane doing some coalition work unable to operate among their coalition peers ?
By: swerve
- 20th January 2016 at 20:11Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
NVG compatibility apparently was not an ASSTA 3 requirement so it should come as no surprise the jet can't do what it wasn't asked to do.
ASSTA 3.1 will add NVG compatibility afaik.
I've seen it reported elsewhere that it's not the screens, but LEDs which emit too much IR. The problem's been known about for a while & there's a requirement to replace them, but it's not been co-ordinated with installation of ASSTA 3, so it went ahead with the old LEDs - & there's a temporary fix with some kind of kit (filters to go over the LED lights?), but again, an administrative ****-up re. provision of it.
New
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By: MSphere
- 20th January 2016 at 20:31Permalink- Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Not necessarily displays, even one or two really bright diodes will force the ABC (Automatic Brightness Control) of your tubes to adjust the gain accordingly causing an ongoing loss of visual acuity for the scene outside the cockpit. NV compatible lighting is not only about reduced brightness, it's primarily about operating wavelength which is then largely filtered out by minus-blue filters.
Here is what happens if you don't adjust your lighting correctly.. The cockpit lighting modified to Class-B (emission up to 665 nm) as viewed through Class-A objective lens of AN/AVS-9 NVGs and through the correct Class-B objective lens.. Class-B objective lens filters out all light below 665 nm, hence no unfiltered light entering the cathode. However, use of ANVIS-9 with Class-A objectives (625nm limit) allows unfiltered red lighting to enter your tubes..
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By: Tango III - 19th January 2016 at 21:53 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Germany's Tornado reconnaissance jets 'can't fly at night': report
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By: Tango III - 19th January 2016 at 21:55 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
China to Finalize Plans for $22 Billion Plane-Engine Giant (excerpt)
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By: MSphere - 19th January 2016 at 23:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Could be that their night vision goggles are lacking minus blue filters in their optics.. or that the wavelength of the filters does not match the wavelength of the cockpit lighting...Posts: 5,396
By: djcross - 20th January 2016 at 02:32 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
NVGs weren't big in aviation until the 1980s. It isn't surprising that 1970s cockpit displays on a Tornado cannot be dimmed enough to be compatible with NVGs.
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By: TomcatViP - 20th January 2016 at 02:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The LCD upgrade is recent. We can only wonder how this has passed testing.
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By: mrmalaya - 20th January 2016 at 06:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Could it be that they havent planned and resourced and trained very well? If you think that your frontline aircraft are going to be used in anything other than exercises, then you equip them for that eventuality surely?
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By: swerve - 20th January 2016 at 12:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Really? It wasn't a problem for the RAF 25 years ago, so why should it be a problem for the Luftwaffe now?
And Luftwaffe (& other) Tornados don't have 1970s displays nowadays. All updated to LCD displays, like the Italians.
Posts: 253
By: Siddar - 20th January 2016 at 14:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
So it seems putting those two sentences together that the new displays are actually worse in regards to NVG use than the old displays from the seventies.
So whoever did the upgrade simply ignored the need for there use in combination with NVG. Makes sense modern cockpits are full of flat panel displays. Those displays are much larger light sources than the older displays. If you ignored the need to use NVG when designing them then it is not surprising that the new displays render NVG unusable.
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By: swerve - 20th January 2016 at 16:27 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
If so, someone got the specifications for the upgrade spectacularly wrong, & nobody picked it up in testing.
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By: eagle - 20th January 2016 at 18:34 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
NVG compatibility apparently was not an ASSTA 3 requirement so it should come as no surprise the jet can't do what it wasn't asked to do.
ASSTA 3.1 will add NVG compatibility afaik.
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By: TomcatViP - 20th January 2016 at 19:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
So, they seriously send airplane doing some coalition work unable to operate among their coalition peers ?
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By: mrmalaya - 20th January 2016 at 20:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Makes you wonder what the specifications for the Tornado replacement will be!
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By: swerve - 20th January 2016 at 20:11 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I've seen it reported elsewhere that it's not the screens, but LEDs which emit too much IR. The problem's been known about for a while & there's a requirement to replace them, but it's not been co-ordinated with installation of ASSTA 3, so it went ahead with the old LEDs - & there's a temporary fix with some kind of kit (filters to go over the LED lights?), but again, an administrative ****-up re. provision of it.
Posts: 8,850
By: MSphere - 20th January 2016 at 20:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Not necessarily displays, even one or two really bright diodes will force the ABC (Automatic Brightness Control) of your tubes to adjust the gain accordingly causing an ongoing loss of visual acuity for the scene outside the cockpit. NV compatible lighting is not only about reduced brightness, it's primarily about operating wavelength which is then largely filtered out by minus-blue filters.
Here is what happens if you don't adjust your lighting correctly.. The cockpit lighting modified to Class-B (emission up to 665 nm) as viewed through Class-A objective lens of AN/AVS-9 NVGs and through the correct Class-B objective lens.. Class-B objective lens filters out all light below 665 nm, hence no unfiltered light entering the cathode. However, use of ANVIS-9 with Class-A objectives (625nm limit) allows unfiltered red lighting to enter your tubes..
[ATTACH=CONFIG]243388[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]243389[/ATTACH]
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By: Tango III - 20th January 2016 at 20:47 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
It’s Russia’s Turn to Learn That Stealth Warplanes Are Hard to Do (excerpt)
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By: Tango III - 20th January 2016 at 20:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Reviving F-22 Raptor production a ‘non-starter’
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By: Tango III - 20th January 2016 at 20:53 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The F-15I As the IAF's Strategic Aircraft
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By: Tango III - 20th January 2016 at 20:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Lockheed Martin installing special system on Israeli C-130J
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By: Tango III - 20th January 2016 at 20:56 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Northrop Will Fly T-X Prototype This Year
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By: hopsalot - 20th January 2016 at 23:37 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
David Axe article... you should post a warning.