The U.S. Air Force has developed a wearable mask designed to protect helicopter aircrew from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazards.
The service branch said Thursday its Joint Service Aircrew Mask – Rotary Wing works to protect a user’s ocular, percutaneous and respiratory systems and operates with night vision equipment. The mask features a removable faceplate and increased battery life over the previous Aircrew Eye and Respiratory Protection system. Users of the mask would also gain a field of view made for combat operations in CBRN environments. The U.S. Navy will use the mask to replace the existing CBRN protection system assigned to HH-60G Pave Hawk and UH-1N Huey aircraft.
“This joint service program required us to team with our counterparts in the Army, the Navy and the Marines to derive and balance system requirements that met all services’ mission profiles,” said Mohamed Mughal, chief engineer of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s CBRN Defense Systems Branch.
