The ability to fully operate rotary-wing aircraft in natural and aircraft-induced degraded visual environments (DVE) is achallenge that is being addressed by the US Army Aviation science and technology community. When the term DVE isdiscussed, most people think of the challenges associated with dust landings; however, the problem involves much morethan the final landing phase of a mission. The objective of a DVE system is to enable aircrews to fly a mission under visualflight rules in a degraded environment and/or instrument meteorological conditions. Much like night vision gogglesallowed Army Aviation to “own the night,” the capability to safely operate in any weather condition will provide aviatorsthe ability to “own the environment.” The US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Degraded VisualEnvironment – Mitigation (DVE-M) program is a multi-year demonstration program that is evaluating key technologiesto enable full spectrum operations in degraded environments. The three main components of a DVE solution are flightcontrols, sensors, and cueing. Improvements in all three areas, along with the development of an advanced and modulararchitecture, will provide increased capability to safely operate in DVEs. In order to provide a true capability, thesetechnologies must be integrated into an optimized solution consisting of fused sensor data, a comprehensive cueingsolution, and advanced flight controls that include autonomous, sensor-driven guidance capabilities. The integrated systemdeveloped by the DVE-M program will be demonstrated in multiple locations with degraded environments and will buildupon the test data and lessons learned from the 2016 and 2017 NATO flight trials.
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