Advancements in technology and the need for improving the pilots' working situations have stimulated the growth of automated functions within the fighter aircraft domain. Functions that aid the pilots perform their tasks and to make decisions fast in an often rapidly changing environment have been introduced with the ultimate aim of easing the pilots' workloads and improving their situation awareness. However, both positive and negative effects of automating pilots' tasks have been documented, such as decreased workload and skill degradation, and it has been acknowledged that it is important to consider the needs of the human operator when designing automated functions. Human-Centred Automation (HCA) has been suggested as an approach for designing automated systems that brings forward the positive effects of automation. However, how to apply the concept of HCA in light of the specific prerequisites and demands of the modern fighter aircraft domain has not been fully investigated. This paper presents the results from interviews made together with fighter aircraft system developers, where the concept of HCA was investigated. Their opinions of the applicability of the concept of HCA within the fighter aircraft domain is presented as well as their thoughts about identified HCA guidelines in relation to the proposed support system. Conclusions drawn from the study are that HCA is indeed an important concept to consider within the domain as well as that the proposed guidelines could be of great use during the design process. Additionally, insight into how to design automated support systems with the concept of HCA in mind is given.
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