Aviation Goggles Protect Against Multiple Laser Threats.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

PARIS--A German company has developed goggles that can protect pilots' eyes from six different kinds of lasers.

The Federal Aviation Administration in 2021 reported some 9,700 incidents in the United States alone when someone aimed a laser at military or commercial pilots in their cockpits. That can not only temporarily disorient a pilot, it can cause permanent damage to their eyes and end their careers, said Christoph Brunner, a former helicopter pilot and now a researcher with ESG Elektroniksystem based in Furstenfeldbruck, Germany.

"In a laboratory, you may have a specific laser that you want to protect against. You know the wavelength and the strength and power of the laser. But pilots don't know what's coming." They can't take six pairs of protective goggles with them, he noted.

The company over several years developed the visAIRion Laser Protection Glasses that have six ultrathin layers of protective film, he said in an interview at the German Pavilion at the Paris Air Show.

The problem was finding the sweet spot between protection and the colors a pilot needs to see, he said. Red-colored lasers may damage or disorient pilots, but they may also need to see the color red on their viewscreens. Too much protection could result in them not...