The US Air Force has awarded Danish defense company Terma a $9 million contract to supply its 3D audio system for F-16 fighter jets.

Over the next two years, Air Combat Command will upgrade its F-16 fleet with Terma’s innovative and critical equipment.

“With this award, the 3D-Audio program continues to be a significant cornerstone of our offerings to meet the demand for best-in-class audio systems from the global community,” said Rob Strasser, Vice President of Terma Self-Protection Systems.

3D audio system

The Terma 3D-Audio system, compatible with all AIRCRAFT types, provide high-fidelity digital audio signals by spatially separating radio signals, aligning audio with threat directions, and integrating active noise reduction.

This advanced technology eliminates the “cluttered room” effect, allowing pilots to respond quickly and accurately during missions.

The 3D Audio and Radio Separation features offer pilots the only end-to-end solution for optimizing the overall sound field in flight crew headsets.

Pilots are presented with various sound inputs, including ground control radio calls and warning signals.

3D separation allows the audio input to be separated into different areas of the pilot’s sound field, making the overall audio experience more natural and less stressful.

By implementing 3D audio and Radio Separation functions, the crew can distinguish important calls or warning signals from unimportant ones.

This leaves room for what matters—focusing on accomplishing mission-critical actions.

Pilots can make better decisions in critical situations using audio signals in their headsets and visual cues on the display.

Faster and clearer pilot alerts

The 3D audio system allows pilots to identify missile warning system threats, radar warning receiver threats, laser warning system threats and threats from small arms detection systems.

The headset allows the listener to perceive and understand the sounds around the pilot.

Headtracking intelligently positions an audio source relative to the listener’s head, creating a real-time audio simulation of the audio environment.

This is also known as a dynamic audio source and can be a lifesaver when pilots face threats from RPGs or radar guided missiles/heat seekers.

The benefit of switching to a 3D-Audio separation function is ultimately faster and better decisions.

Pilots quickly become aware of details in mission-critical situations, making their response time 1.5 seconds faster than the enemy’s.

It is difficult for pilots to distinguish between the different sounds ENTRIES coming simultaneously.

The 3D Audio feature allows pilots to separate different sounds, choose which ones to listen to and focus their attention.

This allows for more focused attention and allows pilots to manage multiple sources.

Pilots can choose which sound inputs to focus on, interpreting more audio information as a whole.

Simultaneous exposure to sound from many different sources creates a stressful and difficult work environment.

If the sound is placed at different positions in the sound field, it becomes easier for the pilot to discern where the sound is coming from and the relative importance of the call.

The combination of visual cues on the cockpit display and 3D audio support allows the crew to take action with greater accuracy and speed, based on all available information.