$400,000.00 F-35 Helmet....Paid For By You....

The 3rd Generation F-35 helmet is here......Open the champagne and start the celebration.

It is called the "Magic" Helmet.

It is "Magic" because it magically makes $400,000.00 of your tax dollars disappear. It is incredible.

One minute there is 400 grand sitting on a table and the next moment the 400 grand is gone (Poof) and in its place is this big dookie helmet.

"The Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) is a key part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The helmet incorporates LCD displays to take input from the aircraft's various sensors—radar, infra-red, and the electro-optical targeting system—and overlay them on the pilot's field of view."

"This means the HMDS can do some pretty neat tricks. The biggest one is the pilot's ability to "see" through the plane; the pilot can look down at his feet, for example, and the view from of the infra-red camera on the bottom of the plane will be projected onto his helmet visor—in effect giving the pilot x-ray vision. The F-35 has six such cameras, all forming the so-called the Distributed Aperture System."

When the experts defend the fact that the F-35 can't dog fight worth a damn they tell us it doesn't matter because the F-35 is going to destroy its enemy before that enemy even knows the F-35 is there.

The F-35 will be dominant from miles and miles away.

So if that is true why do they need to see through the floor of the plane? What relevance does that have?

If they do need to see through the floor of the plane then they will be in a close dog fight and the one engine F-35 is in big trouble.

The F-35 is snail slow. It fly's 1200 mph. The Mig 31 flies 1800 mph. The F-15 (which the F-35 is supposed to replace) flies 1600 mph.

Did you ever try chasing someone who is flying 600 Mph faster than you? It doesn't end well.

DId you ever try running away from someone by flying 600 MPH slower then the guy chasing you? That doesn't work too well either.

The F-35 is a one engine joke of a plane.....With a really expensive helmet.

"The third-gen helmet is still not without its problems. According to DefenseNews, the helmet's 5.1 pound weight contributes to a safety issue when the pilot ejects from the plane. The Air Force says there is an "elevated risk" for pilots weighing between 136 and 165 pounds to sustain neck damage, and pilots weighing less than 136 aren't allowed to fly the plane at all. The contractor, Rockwell Collins, is working on producing a lightweight version of the helmet, with a safe weight considered 4.8 pounds or less."

"And finally, there's cost: each helmet costs a whopping $400,000. Those in charge of the F-35 program claim it's not just a helmet but a "workspace" for the pilot, in some ways like the screen of your laptop, where data is blended together, shared, and acted upon. Regardless, that's quite an expensive "workspace."

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a19764/the-f-35s-third-generation-magic-helmet-is-here/