WVR-Illustrator Evaluation: Using pilot expertise for future development

The Illustrator is a demonstrator of a future training simulator for within visual range (WVR) air-to-air combat, based on COTS-products. The focus of the study was to evaluate the Illustrator together with pilots from the Swedish Air Force, and to transform those expert opinions into guidelines for continued development. Two perspectives were undertaken, one psychological and one technical, with questionnaires and objective performance measures as foundation for the evaluation. The former concerned the measurement of several psychological aspects that were to be related to earlier research. In the technical evaluation, several aspects, fidelity levels, were evaluated regarding realism, limitation of performance, importance of realism and improvement need. Thirteen fighter pilots participated. The sessions consisted of several WVR-scenarios. Several results concerning the psychological evaluation were in line with earlier findings. However, not a single predictor of performance was found. Two fidelity levels, transition head-up/head-clown and field of view showed to diverge from the other fidelity levels. They are therefore recommended to be prioritized during the further development. The general conclusion is that there seem to be a potential for the Illustrator to be a valuable tool for practicing WVR-combat if further development is undertaken.