Military/avionics: Design decisions for a head-up display: This F-14 fighter optics retrofit case history is a prime example of analyzing and selecting design options

In modern high-speed aircraft it is vital that primary flight control information be clearly and unobstrusively presented to the pilot. The head-up display (HUD) meets this requirement by providing relevant scales, alphanumerics, symbology, gunsight reticle, etc., superimposed on the pilot´s forward field of view. With most HUD designs, the information is calligraphically presented on a high-brightness cathode-ray tube and projected through a collimating lens to a combiner (partially silvered glass) located between the pilot and the aircraft´s windshield. Making the HUD concept an even more valuable aid for military aircraft pilots was the task of Grumman engineers retrofitting the US Navy´s F-14 Fighter cockpit with an improved HUD design. In this discussion, the progress of the project is traced through difficult, often conflicting, engineering problems to its present form, which is-according to US Navy pilots-a substantial advance in the state of the art.