"VIRTUAL" AIR INTERCEPT CONTROL (AIC) ARCHITECTURES FOR TRAINING AIR INTERCEPT CONTROL PROCEDURES

The Radar Intercept Operator (RIO) on fighter jets requires initial and ongoing training in all aspects of air intercept control procedures. Current training methods require the presence of an instructor in both initial and ongoing training of perishable skills. This increases the cost and decreases the practicality of training as the RIO must be present at a training facility to receive training, thereby taking time away from the job. The proposed work would augment the activities of the human trainer by using artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent tutoring system (ITS) and virtual reality (VR) techniques to develop automated, self-contained, and portable training devices for maintaining perishable skills. This would enable the RIO to receive training at his convenience with minimal disruption to his duties. Phase I will be devoted to a task analysis of RIO training requirements and to development of a proff-of-concept system. Phase II will be devoted to developing a full-scale training system.