INNOVATIVE TACTICS ENHANCEMENT TO THE ADVANCED AIR-TO-AIR SYSTEM PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MODEL (AASPEM) PILOT DECISION LOGIC

THE ADVANCED AIR-TO-AIR SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MODEL (AASPEM) IS A COMPREHENSIVE, DIGITAL, MULTI-AIRCRAFT ENGAGEMENT MODEL DEVELOPEDBY THE BOEING MILITARY AIRCRAFT COMPANY FOR THE USAF. THIS MODEL EMPHASIZES BEYOND VISUAL RANGE (BVR) COMBAT. THE WITHIN-VISUAL-RANGE (WVR) OR CLOSE-IN COMBAT PORTION OF AASPEM IS A CARRY OVER FROM AN EARLIER MODEL, PACAM V. RESULTS OF STUDIES CONDUCTED BY EIDETICS INTERNATIONAL FOR ASD/XRM INDICTE THAT AASPEM DOES NOT MODEL MODERN CLOSE-IN COMBAT WELL. THE AASPEM CLOSE-IN COMBAT TACTICS LOGIC (WHICH CONTROLS THE AIRCRAFT ENGAGED IN COMBAT) RELIES ON TACTICS DEVELOPED FOR HIGH WING LOADED, MEDIUM THRUST-TO-WEIGHT AIRCRAFT. DURING AN ENGAGEMENT THE AASPEM AIRCRAFT MOVE QUICKLY TO THEIR "CORNER VELOCITY" TO MAXIMIZE THEIR TURN RATE EVEN THROTTLING BACK IF FASTER THAN THEIR "CORNER SPEED." THE RESULTING "DOGFLIGHTS" ARE DOMINATED BY SUSTAINED TURNING PERFORMANCE AT NEARLY CONSTANT ALTITUDE. MODERN FIGHTER AIRCRAFT WITH HIGH THRUST OT WEIGHT RATIOS AND LOW WIND LOADING SUCH AS THE F-14, F-15, F-16 AND F-18 RARELY BECOME ENGAGED IN SUSTAINED TURN FIGHTS. VERTICAL MANEUVERS AND SHORT, HARD TURNS WITH THE SPEED DROPPING BELOW "CORNER SPEED" AS REQUIRED, FOLLOWED BY RE-ACCELERATIONS, MORE CORRECTLY CHARACTERIZED MODERN FIGHTER COMBAT. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS SBIR EFFORT, BOTH PHASE I AND PHASE II, IS TO UPGRADE THE TACTICS LOGIC OF AASPEM TO BETTER REPRESENT CLOSE-IN COMBAT OF MODERN FIGHTERS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I EFFORT IS TO GATHER FRIENDLY AND ADVERSARY, SINGLE AND MULTIPLE SHIP TACTICS INFORMATION TO BE INCORPORATED IN THE AASPEM TACTICS LOGIC DURING A PHASE II EFFORT. THIS TACTICS INFORMATION WILL BE GATHERED FROM A REVIEW OF CURRENT TACTICS MANUALS AND DURING INTERVIEWS AT THE AIR FORCE AND NAVAL FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOLS AND FROM SIMULATED AIR-TO-AIR COMBAT RECORDED ON THE AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING INSTRUMENTATION (ACMI) AND TACTICAL AIR COMBAT TRAINING SYSTEM (TACTS) RANGES.