An Application of Signal Detection Theory to Air Combat Training

Abstract

Mission-qualified F-4 pilots scheduled for training in the Simulator for Air-to-Air Combat (SAAC) flew two consecutive 2-min engagements against a computer-simulated adversary aircraft both before and after SAAC training. The SAAC models the flight characteristics of the different F-4 missile systems and was programmed to specify on a continual basis whether or not the adversary aircraft was within the pilot's weapon-firing envelope for each missile system. Data collected were used to calculate hit rates and false-alarm rates in an application of the theory of signal detectability (TSD). Relevant parameters were derived by solving for the (inferred) decision window that optimized goodness-of-fit to power-law ROC curves. The results suggest that TSD represents a promising approach to systematically studying changes in pilot decision-making behavior as a function of training.

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