Honeywell, which has not manufactured its own head-up display (HUD) as part of its avionics offerings, plans to acquire HUD assets from Saab and integrate a HUD with its Anthem and Epic avionics systems. The acquisition “is subject to certain closing conditions, including the accomplishment of certain development milestones,” according to Honeywell, which didn’t provide a timeline for the deal’s completion.
Once concluded, Honeywell will manufacture the HUD, according to Andrew Barker, v-p of integrated avionics. The acquisition includes Saab’s HUD overhead projection unit (OPU) intellectual property, which he said “will enable us to design, manufacture, and deploy our own OPU." The OPU includes the combiner glass on which HUD imagery is projected. “Honeywell will be the manufacturer, and it will be a Honeywell-led operation,” he noted.
Honeywell plans to offer the HUD as an integrated feature of its new Anthem avionics suite but also for aircraft equipped with Primus Epic flight decks, as well as for standalone retrofits.
Honeywell’s move brings new competition to the HUD market. HUDs installed in Epic flight decks on business jets are either made by Collins Aerospace (Gulfstream) or Elbit (Falcon). Collins also makes the HUD in Embraer’s Legacy 450/500 and Praetor 500/600. Garmin has developed a HUD for Textron Aviation’s Citation Longitude, and certification of that system is pending. “We are planning [to serve] all our markets that we play in,” Barker said, “business aviation, airline, and military platforms.” Information on what aircraft might qualify for HUD retrofits will come later.
Honeywell is “evaluating options” for enhanced vision system (EVS) cameras that will work with its new HUD, according to Barker. “We are going to be able to work with currently certified camera systems.”
No specifications for the Honeywell HUDs are available yet. “We are targeting a wide field of view and low weight and volume,” he said. Plans are to offer the latest technology, including combined vision and enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) with its capability to enable instrument approaches with lower minimums.
Although Honeywell had conducted extensive human factors research into pilots using head-down displays (HDD or instrument panel displays) to replicate HUD EFVS capabilities during low-visibility instrument approaches, FAA regulations don’t give HDD credit for the lowest approach minimums. So HUD is currently the sole option for the benefits of EFVS.
“We’re putting lot of development into Anthem and all the different pieces around Anthem and displays are a very important piece of that,” Barker said. “But the head-up display plays an important role. Certification is easier using a head-up display for EFVS, and we see a value in the head-up display and things it brings to the cockpit you can’t get with a traditional head-down display.”
Saab had done research into other technology that could make HUD more useful, including a millimeter-wave sensor that can penetrate obscuring phenomena such as rain and fog, which can hamper EVS image quality. “We’re definitely exploring the technologies that are available,” he said. “We’re looking at things Saab did in the past and discussions they had with others.”
The acquisition agreement does call for Saab to “partner with Honeywell to develop and strengthen its HUD product line,” according to Honeywell.
“Saab believes that this agreement further establishes Saab and Honeywell as long-term partners and increases greater market opportunities,” said Carl-Johan Bergholm, senior v-p and head of Saab’s surveillance business area.
When it becomes available, Honeywell’s HUD “will not be an entry-level product,” Barker explained. “This is something that fits the roadmap of what we had planned with Anthem and Epic. As we transition into Anthem, having a head-up display focused on wide field of view, low weight, and small volume lets us get into aircraft that haven’t had a head-up display before.”