Abstract
The use of multi-sensory displays for fighter aircraft cockpits is being investigated at the U.S. Air Force's Armstrong Laboratory as a means of enhancing pilot performance. The current experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of employing such displays on the performance of a simulated air combat task. Each of four experienced US Air Force F-16 pilots flew 12 simulated missions which required them to locate and destroy four enemy bombers whose flight path was pre-programmed. Simultaneously, two other pilots were assigned to auxiliary cockpits in the laboratory and flew enemy fighter aircraft in an attempt to intercept and shoot down the primary pilot. Therefore there were three active participants in each air combat scenario. Each pilot flew six trials using a cockpit comprised of conventional F-15 flight instruments and six trials using a modified, multi-sensory cockpit. The results indicated that pilot performance and situation awareness were generally superior with the multi-sensory cockpit as opposed to the conventional cockpit, although statistical differences between the two were at best marginally significant. Nevertheless, the results suggest that if pilots were to receive advance training with the multi-sensory cockpit their performance may exceed that in the highly overlearned conventional cockpit by even more substantial amounts.
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