USAF to upgrade A-10Cs with 3D-audio for pilot situational awareness

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The US Air Force (USAF) is moving ahead with plans to equip its Fairchild-Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II combat aircraft with 3D-audio to enhance the situational awareness of its pilots.
Once fielded, the Terma 3D-audio system will add to what is currently just a simple visual warning on a cockpit control panel with a directional audible sound in the pilot’s helmet, intuitively informing them where exactly the threat is coming from and enabling them to instinctively react to it.Photo by: US Air Force
Following a request for information (RFI) issued in December 2017, a notification was issued by the service on 5 November disclosing that it is to award Terma a sole-source Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to equip between 150 and 200 of its A-10Cs with a system to provide the pilot with 3D-audio cues.
As noted by the USAF, the overall acquisition strategy of the 3-Dimensional Audio Program is to deliver a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) system to drastically improve the spatial, battlespace, and situational awareness of its A-10C pilots by providing audio cues that are accurate to within 15° of both azimuth and elevation.
janes.com