OLED Helmet-Mounted Display Improves Performance and Cost for F-35

A2627 — OLED Display for F-35 HMD

Objective

This Electro-Optics Center (EOC) project developed and demonstrated a manufacturing
process to assemble an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display into the existing optical
train of the F-35 Lightning II helmet-mounted display system (HMDS). Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report 18-321 (June 2018) stated that the current liquid crystal
display on the F-35 exhibits a characteristic “green glow” during low-light flights, which
makes it difficult for the pilot to see the full resolution of the night vision video feed. The
GAO report concluded that “Organic light-emitting diode displays avoid this effect by only
illuminating the active pixels.” The manufacturing challenge for ManTech was to substitute
an OLED microdisplay for the existing AMLCD (active matrix liquid crystal display),
without adding additional process steps or optical train elements. Further, the OLED-based
HMD needs to perform sufficiently over the lifetime of the helmet without the luminance
degradation known to be a problem with OLED devices.

Payoff

In addition to HMDS performance improvements, this project demonstrated cost
savings in assembly time and parts handling: part count is projected to be reduced by
27 percent, and touch time labor is projected to be reduced by 10 percent through
improved tooling concepts. The projected savings for the F-35 program are $17.4M.

Implementation

This ManTech project is integral to the initial operational capability (IOC) for the F-35C,
which was achieved in early 2019. A quantity of 62 OLED flight helmets have been ordered
for IOC trials. OLED HMD production will start after the full qualification program is
completed in late 2021.