Elbit Systems-Kollsman, the New Hampshire elctro-optic systems maker, announced the delivery of its 1,000th enhanced vision system since it pioneered EVS technology a decade ago aboard Gulfstream business jets. Fittingly, the 1,000th installation was also aboard a Gulfstream, as have been about 80 percent of all Kollsman EVS deliveries.
The Kollsman EVS displays an infrared camera image on a head-up display to provide improved vision in low visibility conditions such as fog or haze and at night. The FAA and EASA provide landing credits for airplanes equipped with HUD-based EVS, permitting descents as low as 100 feet using the camera system on straight-in precision instrument approaches.
A subsidiary of Israeli defense electronics firm Elbit Systems, Kollsman introduced its cryogenically cooled EVS camera in 2001, and followed with the improved EVS II system in 2007. List price for the hardware and installation is about $500,000, the company says.
