Next Generation, Multirole Fighter Instruction and Rehearsal Environment (GeMFIRE )

ABSTRACT: Although next generation, military aircraft offer a wealth of technological capabilities and can adopt multiple roles, pilots are now presented with an extraordinarily complex set of tasks to master in comparison to third and fourth generation aircraft. Ensuring pilots are comprehensively trained across these complex, interrelated tasks is simply not economically feasible in live exercises. To effectively, efficiently, and economically prepare our nation"s pilots for next generation, multirole aircraft, we propose to design and demonstrate a Next Generation, Multirole Fighter Instruction and Rehearsal Environment (GeMFIRE). Three core activities characterize this effort. First, we will leverage existing analyses of pilot tasks and workload in multirole aircraft to develop a Probabilistic Training Model, which does not limit pilots to only those scenarios defined by an instructional designer. Second, we will develop a scenario creation tool to allow trainers and SMEs to create, alter, compose, and deploy components of multirole exercises that employ our Probabilistic Training Model. Third, we will integrate these capabilities within an existing distributable flight simulation environment and extend that environment to adaptively include commercial devices that enable simulation features that mimic the cockpit environment of the multirole fighter. BENEFIT: The primary benefit of GeMFIRE will be in supporting cost-effective training and rehearsal for next generation, multirole aircraft pilots. However, we recognize considerable benefit for other forms of aircraft (e.g., UAVs), particularly those with multiple mission sets (e.g., ISR versus strike). We also plan to enhance our user-friendly agent development environment, AgentWorks, with authoring capabilities that will increase its appeal in the simulation-based training market as well as in the entertainment (e.g., video game) market.