BAE Systems launches high-tech 'Iron Man' helmet

As BAE Systems launches the Q-Warrior, Ben Farmer tests out the see-through helmet mounted display that allows soldiers to identify hostile and friendly forces.
The dingy back room in a Kent factory appeared unremarkable -until I put the futuristic helmet on. Suddenly, my vision was overlaid with a swirl of neon displays, figures and markers reminiscent of a computer game.
Where the room had consisted of merely featureless white walls, it was now highlighted with fluorescent icons signifying my direction, bearing, marked points and even a map - all constantly updating as I moved around.
But this is not the latest gadget designed to make console games even more interactive and realistic; it is a prototype of a new hi-tech military helmet that engineers believe will herald a battlefield revolution.
Codenamed the Q-Warrior system, it is designed to provide ordinary soldiers with the kind of heads-up display (HUD) once reserved for jet-fighter pilots.
The new system, which is being built in Britain and is under testing by US forces, allows commanders to beam information straight into the sight line of soldiers, offering details ranging from compass bearings to streams of video from surveillance drones.
The data appears on a transparent screen positioned over the wearer's left eye, allowing them to see the battlefield overlaid with neon targets, the position of friendly forces and the bearings of aircraft.
Developers have likened the technology to the helmet worn in the superhero film Iron Man.
Get the latest headlines www.telegraph.c...
Subscribe to The Telegraph www.youtube.com...
Like us on Facebook / telegraph.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter / telegraph
Follow us on Google+ plus.google.co...
Telegraph.co.uk and / telegraphtv are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.