The Target Acquisition and Designation Sights, Pilot Night Vision System (TADS/PNVS) is the combined

sensor A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

and targeting unit fitted to the

Boeing AH-64 Apache The Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing AH-64 Apache ( ) is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. Nose-mounted sensors help target acquisition, acquire targets an ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

. Both systems are independent, but housed together.

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

signed the original TADS/PNVS production contract on 30 April 1982, and the first TADS/PNVS system was fielded in 1983."Lockheed Martin Awarded $385.6 Million Arrowhead Production Contract"
. (Press Release) 26 June 2006.

. Retrieved 18 July 2013

Target Acquisition and Designation Sights (TADS)

TADS contains stabilized electro-optical sensors, a

laser rangefinder A laser rangefinder, also known as a laser telemeter or laser distance meter, is a rangefinder that uses a laser beam to determine the distance to an object. The most common form of laser rangefinder operates on the time of flight principle by ...

and laser target designator. The TADS assembly can rotate +/− 120 degrees in

azimuth An azimuth (; from ) is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north, in a local or observer-centric spherical coordinate system. Mathematically, the relative position vector from an observer ( origin) to a point ...

, +30/−80 degrees in

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

and can move independently of the PNVS. The movements of TADS can be 'slaved' to the head movements of the

crew to point where they are looking. This allows images from TADS to be projected onto the crew helmet-mounted optical

sights A sight or sighting device is any device used to assist in precise visual alignment (i.e. ''aiming'') of weapons, surveying instruments, aircraft equipment, optical illumination equipment or larger optical instruments with the intended target. ...

, overlaid upon their view of the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

and battle space. TADS contains a

thermographic camera Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a Thermographic camera, thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are exa ...

and a monochrome daylight television camera. With the improvements planned with M-TADS in the block III level AH-64D, the monochrome TV-camera is planned to be replaced with a full color camera. It also used to contain direct-view

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

(DVO) which the copilot/ gunner (CPG) could see through the Optical Relay Tube (ORT). But in recently fielded models of the AH-64D the ORT along with the DVO has been removed as it was rarely used. It has been replaced in the co-pilot's cockpit by a third Multi Purpose Display.

Pilot Night Vision System

Mounted above the TADS, the Pilot Night Vision System (PNVS) contains an infrared camera slaved to the head movements of the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. PNVS can rotate +/− 90 degrees in azimuth and +20/−45 degrees in elevation. PNVS has a high rate of movement (120° per second) so as to accurately match the head movements of the pilot.

Arrowhead upgrade

As of 2005 a program was under way to upgrade the U.S. Apache fleet to the Modernized-TADS/PNVS (M-TADS/PNVS) standard, also known as Arrowhead.$262.4M in Arrowheads for Apaches
''

Defense Industry Daily Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

'', 2 May 2005 This upgrade is claimed to give a 150% performance and reliability improvement, while reducing costs through lower maintenance requirements.

References

{{reflist Helicopter components Lockheed Martin