Landing a helicopter on the flight deck of a ship is a difficult task at the best of times. Now imagine doing it in the dark, with the ship moving. The difficulties become greatly multiplied.

The use of night vision goggles (NVGs) is well established as a key technology to help aircrew operate at night. Pilots use NVGs to enhance their operations and to improve flight safety. Ideally they would like to use them throughout the flight envelope, including take off and recovery to the flight deck. Switching between aided and unaided flight is undesirable as the eye must adapt rapidly.