NEURAL NETWORK FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF TACTICAL SITUATIONAL AWARENESS IN THE AIR-TO-AIR MISSION

THE ABILITY TO ASSESS THE LEVEL OF SITUATION AWARENESS (SA) IN REAL TIME IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO AVIATORS IN COMBAT, BECAUSE SA IS A KEY FACTOR IN RISK EVALUATION. NEURAL NETWORK TECHNOLOGY, WITH ITS ABILITY TO RAPIDLY ANALYZE NOISY MULTIVARIATE DATA, HOLDS GREAT PROMISE IN ENHANCING THE PROCESSING OF TACTICAL INFORMATION -AND ULTIMATELY FOR ESTIMATING SA. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A METHODOLOGY FOR USING A HYBRID NEURAL NETWORK/EXPERT SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT TO CREATE A "TACTICS ADVISOR" SUBSYSTEM FOR THE MISSION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF AN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY FIGHTER. THE TWO VERSUS TWO COMBAT INTERCEPT, THE CORNERSTONE OF AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING (ACM) EFFECTIVENESS, WILL BE THE TASK UNDER EXAMINATION. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL INTEGRATE INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES, AND COMPARE THIS DATA WITH THE LEVEL OF INFORMATION JUDGED TO BE REQUIRED AT THAT POINT IN THE MISSION. AFTER ANALYSIS IS COMPLETE, THE LEVEL OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS WILL BE ESTIMATED, AND A MISSION-SENSITIVE, TACTICAL RECOMMENDATION WILL BE GENERATED. A COMPLETE PROTOTYPE SIMULATION OF THIS PROCESS WILL BE PROGRAMMED IN THE C LANGUAGE ON A MINICOMPUTER. IN ADDITION, THE HUMAN FACTORS IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH WILL BE DISCUSSED.