HELLAS (Helicopter Obstacle Avoidance System)

Helicopter Laser Radar, HELLAS, has been developed by EADS Defence Electronics Gmbh.It is a Laser Radar based obstacle avoidance system for helicopters that creates a situational awareness. It senses telephone and electricity poles, wires, cables that can be fatal for helicopters. The centerpiece of the system is a pulsed laser with a wavelength of 1.5 μm, which is harmless to the human eye.Hellas system scans 32x32 sector in front of the helicopter and senses 5mm wire from 700m when the visibility is 12km with the probability of 95 percent per second.