Optimal pilot decisions and flight trajectories in air combat

The thesis concerns the analysis and synthesis of pilot decision-making and the design of optimal flight trajectories. In the synthesis framework, the methodology of influence diagrams is applied for modeling and simulating the maneuvering decision process of the pilot in one-on-one air combat. The influence diagram representations describing the maneuvering decision in a one sided optimization setting and in a game setting are constructed. The synthesis of team decision-making in a multiplayer air combat is tackled by formulating a decision theoretical information prioritization approach based on a value function and interval analysis. It gives the team optimal sequence of tactical data that is transmitted between cooperating air units for improving the situation awareness of the friendly pilots in the best possible way. In the optimal trajectory planning framework, an approach towards the interactive automated solution of deterministic aircraft trajectory optimization problems is presented. It offers design principles for a trajectory optimization software that can be operated automatically by a nonexpert user. In addition, the representation of preferences and uncertainties in trajectory optimization is considered by developing a multistage influence diagram that describes a series of the maneuvering decisions in a one-on-one air combat setting. This influence diagram representation as well as the synthesis elaborations provide seminal ways to treat uncertainties in air combat modeling. The work on influence diagrams can also be seen as the extension of the methodology to dynamically evolving decision situations involving possibly multiple actors with conflicting objectives. From the practical point of view, all the synthesis models can be utilized in decision-making systems of air combat simulators. The information prioritization approach can also be implemented in an onboard data link system.reviewe

What we got Here, is a Failure to Coordinate: Implicit and Explicit Coordination in Air Combat

Publisher Copyright: © Copyright 2023, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.Air combat is the ultimate test for teamwork, as teams of fighter pilot (or flights), must coordinate their actions in a highly complex, hostile, dynamic and time critical environment. Flights can coordinate their actions using communication, that is, explicitly, or by relying on team situation awareness (SA), that is, implicitly. This paper examines how these two forms of coordination are associated with performance when prosecuting or evading an attack in simulated air combat. This was done by investigating the flights’ team SA, number of SA-related communication acts and performance in these two types of critical events during air combat. The results exhibit a quadratic dependence between team SA and communication. The rate of change of SA-related communication frequency with respect to change of team SA was negative: communication was needed to build team SA, but once an appropriate level of team SA was established, fewer communications were required. If, however, team SA deteriorated the number of SA communication acts increased. However, during time critical events, the flights did not always have enough time to coordinate their actions verbally. If the flights’ team SA in such situations was low, the flights’ explicit coordination attempts were not sufficient to avoid poor performance.Peer reviewe

Team performance in air combat:A teamwork perspective.

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Objective: The objective of this paper is to describe a model combining taskwork and teamwork of a single-seat fighter aircraft team, or flight, during its performance episode. Background: In air combat, evaluations of team performance have focused on task performance. However, both teamwork and taskwork are required for high performance output. Attempts to address taskwork and teamwork in single-seat fighter aircraft flights have mainly settled for adopting existing models of teamwork to flights. As such, they have overlooked the unique nature of teamwork in air combat. Method: Existing models of teamwork and taskwork are reviewed and a flight’s tactical decision-making is described as an input-process-output model. A model combining flight’s teamwork, taskwork, situation awareness and transactive memory is conceptualized and operation of the model is illustrated with a case study. In the case study, the model is used to provide an alternative explanation for an air combat accident. Results: The model bridges the gap between the well-established concepts of teamwork and the unique nature of air combat. It rationalizes how the mission essential competencies, situation awareness and transactive memory interact with each other, and how they impact the flight’s performance output. Conclusions: The model helps scholars and practitioners in identifying the connection between the flight’s performance output and the underlying processes even when cause and effect are not adjacent in either time or space.Peer reviewe