The technology described herein relates to a balanced helmet mounted visual communication and navigation system. A helmet mounted visual communication and navigation system may include a vision module attachable to, and removable from, a front portion of a helmet by an attachment mechanism, a compute module attachable to, and removable from, a back portion of a helmet by another attachment mechanism, and a cable with an end for connecting to the vision module and another end for connecting to the compute module, the cable having a housing configured to house one or more wires. The vision module may include a sensor, a heads up display (HUD) combiner subassembly, and one or more user control buttons. The compute module may include an internal core subassembly with electronic and computing components for operation of the helmet mounted visual communication and navigation, a heat management element, and a power module.