Development of an Air Combat Performance Measure

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to formulate a unitary measure of performance for simulated one-versus-one, within visual range, air-to-air combat. The measure will serve as a criterion for the development and validation of specific measures of ACM skill that can be used to provide diagnostic performance feedback to pilots. Two experiments were conducted in which fighter pilots served as judges and rank-ordered, from most to least desirable, hypothetical ACM engagement outcomes. Outcome variables included (1) whether or not the hypothetical pilot achieved a “kill,” (2) whether or not he survived the mission, (3) the percent of time the pilot was in an offensive, defensive, or neutral posture, (4) length of engagement, and (5) posture at the beginning and end of the engagement (offensive, defensive, or neutral). In order to determine inter-rater agreement among judges in Experiment I, their rankings were correlated. Correlations ranged from .93 to .99. Pilots' rankings of engagement outcomes were subjected to linear regression analyses to derive equations that could be used as a unitary measure of ACM success. The regression equation in Experiment I accounted for 95% of the variance in rankings, and the composite regression model calculated in Experiment II accounted for more than 70% of the variance.