RAF Typhoon pilots use the world's most advanced fighter helmet

Four RAF Typhoon pilots using the world's most advanced fighter helmet set off for Eastern Europe today as tensions with Russia mounted.
Theresa May sanctioned the sending of British RAF resources to patrol the skies over the Black Sea alongside local jets to reassure Eastern European countries in the face of increased aggression from Vladimir Putin.
The four Typhoons, from 3 (Fighter) Squadron will lead the deployment, which is part of the Nato southern air policing mission.
Pilots are using the new £250,000 Striker II helmet, which boasts in-built digital night vision that identifies enemy targets by red and yellow colour codes.
The state-of-the-art head gear allows pilots to tell friend and foe apart in an instant while travelling at supersonic speeds in the dark or bad weather.
The cutting-edge helmets are being used by Typhoon pilots who set off from RAF Coninsby, Lincolnshire, today to bolster air support in Romania.
The planes - which can fly at almost twice the speed of sound - will spent up to four months based at Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in south east Romania.
Last year BAE signed a deal worth £2.1billion over ten years to support the RAF's Typhoon fleet.
Chris Colston, who developed the Striker II helmets, said: 'For the pilot it's like going from your old analogue TV to HD.
'Before, everything was displayed in monochrome green. Now we can mark ground and air targets by colour - making them easier to identify at speed.
'The symbols jump out in daylight and at night-time over the green.
'All the info the pilot needs is displayed in this helmet but you can also see through the display to the outside world. And we have packed all that into a helmet that can protect you if you eject.'
An RAF spokesman said: 'Since the helmets were unveiled they have become a part of the normal equipment used in our aircraft.'
The Black Sea has been the scene of increasing tensions between Russia and the West this year.
In March, Russia fired missiles as part of a war game that followed a similar exercise by NATO the week before.
And on February 10, the USS Porter was buzzed by four Russian planes in an incident condemned as 'unsafe and unprofessional' by the American Navy.
The incident came months after Moscow vowed to take 'retaliatory measures' against the US for what it viewed as an encroachment on its sphere of influence.
The USS Porter entered the Black Sea last June as part of an increase in NATO activity in Eastern Europe, according to USA Today.
Russia has a large naval base in the Black Sea and has in the past warned the US and its allies of activity there.
'From time to time, US vessels enter the Black Sea. Obviously, we do not appreciate it and, undoubtedly, this will lead to retaliatory measures,' a Russian Foreign Ministry official told Sputnik.
Tensions between the US and Russia have grown in recent years as Moscow has aggressively deployed military might in Ukraine, Crimea, and Syria.