Enhanced and synthetic vision system (EVS/SVS) manufacturers are stepping up the dramatic market penetration first signalled at last year's NBAA with announcements from CMC Electronics, Max-Viz and Thales.
CMC's SureSight I-series EVS-IR infrared sensor is to be integrated with the Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics HGS-4860/5860 head-up display (HUD) and offered on the Dassault Falcon 2000EX, 900DX/EX and 7X, as well as on Boeing Business Jets and Next Generation 737 airliners. First systems are to be delivered in early 2006.
Transport Canada approval for the SureSight sensor is expected in November, with certification of its first application - the Bombardier Enhanced Vision System - due in January 2005. Bombardier is flight testing the EVS, which combines the CMC sensor with a Thales HUD, and will install the system as standard on the Global Express XRS and as an option on the Global 5000.
Max-Viz is starting development of the third-generation EVS-3000 and hopes the combined IR/millimetre-wave radar (MMW) system could be fielded as early as the end of 2005. The company is working with Reno-based integrator Sierra Nevada, and plans to use a "really practicable" MMW sensor developed by Irvine, California-based Waveband, as well as a digital terrain database.
Cessna is offering the Max-Viz EVS-1000 IR sensor as a situational- awareness aid on the Citation Excel and XLS, with certification expected in the fourth quarter. The first Citation X with dual-band EVS-2000 will be delivered later this year.
Source: Flight International
