WORK on equipment to make life easier and safer for pilots has been recognised by a Queen's Award for enterprise and innovation for Rochester-based BAE Systems.

Chief engineer David Battle said he was delighted by the award for the helmet-mounted display system. He said: "We have been working on helmet technology since 1978. It's good to see the hard work result in recognition for the team."

The idea of the helmet-mounted display is to project information about the flight and mission onto the visor of the pilot's helmet, meaning the pilot can focus on the outside world without having to look at the cockpit instrumentation.

The system tracks the pilot's head position so the information displayed is relevant to wherever the pilot is looking. This reduces the pilot's workload and is important during take off, enemy engagement and landing.

Sue Wood, managing director of the avionic systems division, said: "Helmet-mounted displays have been designed, developed and manufactured by the companyÕs divisions at both our Rochester and Edinburgh sites over a period of 25 years. Extensive development work and a high degree of innovation have enabled us to achieve this success."

The helmets were first developed in the late 1970s but the real progress was started in the late 1980s in collaboration with the RAF and the Defence Evaluation Research Agency, now called QinetiQ.