Effects of UAV Supervisory Control on F-18 Formation Flight Performance in a Simulator Environment

摘要

No known studies have been conducted to assess the impact of distractions in a military aviation environment. Constant advances in technology and increasing cockpit workload, particularly the shift from two-seat to single-seat fighters to save money and reduce the risk to life, push the limits of human mental capacity. With the rapid increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the past decade, there is an interest within the military aviation community in integrating this capability into the cockpit to expand the firepower, range, or options. This study compared the effects of two different secondary tasks on the formation flight performance. The two secondary tasks corresponded to the traditional secondary task of target prosecution using an electro-optical forward looking infrared (FLIR) pod and a futuristic secondary task involving unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) supervisory command and control. A total of 34 military aviators, all U.S. naval aviators with the exception of one U.S. Marine Corps pilot, with varying levels of flight experience volunteered to fly three 5-min F-18 simulator sessions in close formation while presented with two secondary tasks; the effects of these distractions on the following distance performance were evaluated. The simulators used for this experiment were high fidelity F-18C/D/E/F tactical operational flight trainers (TOFT), which are currently used to conduct training and maintain the proficiency of active duty Navy and Marine Corps pilots. The results provided clear indications that a futuristic task such as a UAV supervisory interface is significantly more challenging than a traditional task and that both secondary tasks increased the average mean following distance and variance compared to the undistracted flying baseline scenario. Additionally, we found no evidence that increased flight experience (total flight hours) significantly improved the performance of the primary task of formation flight when the participants were presented with a distraction. The integration of a futuristic secondary task (UAV supervisory interface) into the simulator cockpit was successful and well received by the participants, but requires further development to be a viable combat multiplier. The knowledge gained from the analysis of the performance differences could contribute to not only improved crew resource management and pilot workload balancing, but also better flight safety through the modification of flight procedures based on the known effects of distractions in the cockpit.