With the goal of flight testing the system next year, BAE Systems recently signed a second contract with Mercury Computer Systems of Chelmsford, Mass., to provide its VistaNav synthetic-vision technology to create a rotorcraft brownout landing system. Award of the first contract was announced in March. Using a morphing terrain engine and integrating with a BAE Systems radar sensor, Mercury’s synthetic-vision display will generate a computerized 3-D terrain map that will allow helicopter pilots to see surrounding terrain and obstacles, regardless of the visibility outside. According to John McKelvey, business development director of defense avionics at BAE Systems, “This contract expands our breadth of engagement to provide a viable, dependable solution to a growing problem that affects all rotorcraft that take off and land in arid conditions, from medflight crews to deployed military troops.”