How 'smart helmets' help pilots in the cockpit

So-called 'smart helmets' are transforming the view that fighter pilots can get from the cockpit.

The BBC's Katia Moskvitch tried out BAE Systems' Striker helmet model on a simulator, at the company's Rochester plant.

The technology is known as an Integrated Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS), and allows enhanced information - which is projected onto the visor - to be conveyed to the pilot.

Cameras mounted around the plane allow the pilot to see things that are physically obscured from his view, for example.

The Integrated Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) has been used on the Eurofighter Typhoon and SAAB Gripen and the Helmet Mounted Cueing System (HMCS) has been used on Harrier and Tornado jets.