Rockwell Collins ESA Awarded $332.6 Million Pentagon Deal for Fighter Pilot Helmet Systems

The Defense Logistics Agency awarded the Fort Worth joint venture a six-year, $332.6 million contract for Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System spares and repairs supporting F-15, F-16 and F-18 fleets in the U.S. and 13 allied nations.

First Published: July 26, 2026, 4:24 AM ETUpdates (1): July 26, 2026, 4:24 AM ET

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems LLC, the Fort Worth joint venture that builds pilot helmet displays for combat aircraft, was awarded a $332.6 million contract to keep U.S. and allied fighter fleets flying with cued targeting gear, as announced on war.gov.

The Defense Logistics Agency Weapon Support office in Warner Robins, Georgia, set the estimated ceiling at $332.6 million under a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, requirements contract. The award covers Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System consumable and depot-level reparable spares and repairs for F-15, F-16 and F-18 aircraft. The agency ran the award as a sole-source acquisition under 10 U.S. Code 3204 (c)(2), citing Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1.

“Our next-generation, helmet mounted display systems provide game-changing situational awareness capabilities for pilots,” Raanan Horowitz, president and chief executive officer of Elbit Systems of America, said in a statement, according to elbitamerica.com.

Helmet-cued aiming reaches back further than the current fleet. British and German engineers experimented with head-tracked gunsights during the 1970s, and the U.S. and Israel jointly fielded the first operational Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System on the F-15 and F-16 in the early 2000s, according to militaryaerospace.com. Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems, a partnership of Rockwell Collins and Elbit Systems of America, later carried that lineage into the F-35 program, cementing the two firms as long-running suppliers to allied air forces.

The total value of contracts awarded to Rockwell Collins ESA Vision Systems LLC in 2026 reached $332,623,964. Overall, this award was announced among 8 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on July 24, 2026.