AWACS airmen get noise-reduction headsets

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • Electronic Systems Center Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass (AFPN) --  Interior aircraft noise has been a longtime problem when it comes to aircrews communicating with each other and protecting themselves from hearing loss.

This is certainly true for aircrews who work aboard the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft. The persistent noise the aircrews are subjected to actually induces added fatigue on missions that can last in upwards of 14 to 16 hours, officials said.

“For 18 months, an AWACS team has worked to find a solution for better hearing protection," said Sam Seagle, active noise reduction project manager in the AWACS System Program Office. "Their work has paid off with a technology improvement, which is available commercially and ready for immediate insertion.”

In December, 552nd Air Control Wing officials at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., will start providing new, high-tech headsets for all assigned AWACS flight and mission crewmembers.

After conducting flight evaluations in January and again in July, Seagle said, AWACS operators concluded the Bose Aviation Headset X is lighter, more comfortable, and offers better hearing protection than the headset currently used.

The headset incorporates Bose’s patented acoustic noise canceling technology, an active noise-reduction capability.

The process reduces noise by introducing sound waves 180 degrees out of phase with the noise, Seagle said. This results in destructive interference causing a net reduction of noise at the ear.

The Bose headsets identify and reduce unwanted noise, allowing improved intelligibility of radio and intercom audio, and better hearing protection, he said.

The headset will be a significant improvement for AWACS in several ways, Seagle said.

“It’s lightweight and comfortable, which will be progressively more important on missions of longer duration,” he said. “Communications reception is clearer and more intelligible.

“Noise-canceling performance is far superior to passive-noise protection alone, especially in the lower frequency ranges,” he said. "The headset also allows for direct communication, usually without removing an ear cup, which is what aircrews have to do now with the current headsets. The Bose headsets cancel only the unwanted background noise and allow most conversational noise to come though very clearly."

Wing officials plan to spend about $1.3 million on 1,500 new headsets.