Lockheed Martin has received a $12 million contract from the U.S. Army to develop a Multi-Modal Sensor Fusion (MMSF) testbed for rotary-wing aircraft.

Under the service’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), the company is developing sensor fusion and integration technologies. The MMSF algorithms blend data from multiple sensor types to restore a pilot’s situational awareness in degraded visual environments (DVEs), said the company in a statement.

During the 40-month effort, Lockheed Martin engineers are expected to integrate government-furnished sensors in a reconfigurable, open-architecture testbed. Other activities include refining multi-modal fusion techniques, and real-time 3-D mapping, as well as implementing symbols and cues for pilot sensor displays.

MMSF blends sensor data to generate real-time 3-D terrain maps of the area around the aircraft. Potential recipients of such capabilities include existing Army helicopters and Future Vertical Lift solutions, says the company.

[Image courtesy: Lockheed Martin]