US F-35 aircraft to have pilot saving Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System
By ANIMonday, August 9, 2010
MELBOURNE - The F-35 Joint Strike Fighters that the United States is coming out with and offering to countries like Australia by 2015, will have an array of advanced weaponry and stealth technologies.
Coming at a price tag of around 110 million dollars and climbing per plane, the Aviation Week report says the aircraft has new systems for dealing with those unfortunate moments when the pilot forgets where they are or loses consciousness, such as the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, or Auto-GCAS.
Current systems are simply based on terrain awareness and warnings, which alert pilots of impending collisions.
The big difference is that Auto-GCAS actually wrests control off the pilot and takes evasive action.
It won’t save pilots’ lives in a mechanical emergency or if they’ve detuned it in order to make a low pass.
The US Air Force will officially begin operational tests next week. (ANI)
