A comprehensive flight test program of a head-steered FLIR/HMD night attack system was conducted between Aug. 1987 and Jan. 1990. Seventy-five development and demonstration F-16B flights were flown. Approximately 90 percent of the flights were conducted in night visual meteorological conditions. The remainder were conducted in daytime with the pilot's vision obscured by an opaque visor cover to simulate night and to study laser eye protection. Because the new FLIR/HMD systems were fully integrated with the F-16B fire control, navigation, communication, and display system, it was possible to achieve a considerable degree of tactical relevance in the tests. The night attack portion of the testing was a subset of a broader series of tests to explore advanced techniques for close air support (CAS). The work was industry sponsored by a number of corporations in a cooperative effort of about thirty million dollars. The tests and demonstrations culminated in operational test by (then) Tactical Air Command pilots at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and Fort Hood, Texas. The night CAS systems evaluations were quite favorable and were planned for production until the remarkable end of the cold war reoriented (or perhaps gave pause to) planned introduction of the concepts to the fleet. In this paper, the author provides a summary overview of the mission, a description of the systems, the lessons learned, and some thoughts about future system requirements.
Head-Steered Sensor Flight Test Results and Implications
1993
7 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Aeronautics , Psychology , Human Factors Engineering , Aircraft guidance , Display devices , Flight control , Flight tests , Flir detectors , Helmet mounted displays , Night vision , Aircraft pilots , F-16 aircraft , Fire control , Eye protection , Laser damage , Navigation aids , Support systems , Visors , Weather , Pilot performance
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