Lucknow: State-run HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) signed an MoU with Elbit Systems during the ongoing DefExpo 2020 on Wednesday for promoting and marketing the Digital Head Up Display (HUD) units. The MoU was signed between Arun Krishna, General Manager, on behalf of HAL, and Roy Zentner, VP (Business Development and Marketing), Elbit Systems.

What does the HAL-Elbit MoU cover?

The MoU envisages extending cooperation for new HUD technologies and promote Digital HUD to the Indian Defence Services and other potential customers. The digital HUD would incorporate new features like Wide Instantaneous and Total Field of View with Minimal Binocular Disparity, Large Eye Motion Box and Digital Image Source for increased pilot's situational awareness.  The HUD system is also compatible with Night Vision Imaging Systems, having improved maintenance features.

What is HUD?

A head-up display or heads-up display, also known as a HUD, is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view information with the head positioned "up" and looking forward, instead of angled down looking at lower instruments. A HUD also has the advantage that the pilot's eyes do not need to refocus to view the outside after looking at the optically nearer instruments. Although they were initially developed for military aviation, HUDs are now used in commercial aircraft, automobiles, and other (mostly professional) applications.

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The backdrop

Earlier on Wednesday, HAL, Israel Aerospace Industries Limited (IAI) and Dynamatic Technologies Limited (DTL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow for marketing, manufacturing and selling of IAI's unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Indian potential customers, such as Indian Defence Forces, Paramilitary Forces and Central Armed Police Forces.

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