Crab, there are structural and location issues for fitting Cutters to the Chinook. The roof would need a lot of mods to be up to the task, and the chin is already taken up with the EO/IR. When I was in the PT we had a whole stack of reports that suggested the Chinook’s mass would snap most of the wires it hit, if the rotor system didn’t do the job first - and given the number we’ve hit over the years, especially in FRY, this has proven to be the case. This one is towards the top of the scale, and given the type of wires they’ve hit, the SI will be interesting to read. Re tablets, we are agreed - short term and cheap way of not doing something properly, and even the best mapping system can’t keep pace with wires/whip antennae going up at short notice.
PBA, there are LIDAR based obstacle detection systems out there available OTS, as well as radar ones. They all will create some false alerts, and cost money to buy and integrate, and can add weight to the nose. JHC prefers not to spend its money on them, instead emphasising crew planning and buying PEDs to ameliorate the risk ito ALARP - which I think is optimistic at best. We’ve also conducted a substantial number of TDPs and R&D in this area to overcome DVE issues - as usual, no money to properly exploit the knowledge gained.....