Normative Performance Measurement in Simulated Air Combat

BACKGROUND: Normative performance (NP) describes the pilots’ adherence to tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Until now, there has not been a global NP measurement technique for beyond visual range (BVR) air combat, and the methodology and technology related to the evaluation of NP have fallen behind the pace of the overall technical progress of distributed mission operations (DMO) training.

METHODS: Platform-independent core air combat tasks were identified. The execution of these tasks is directed with TTPs. BVR air combat missions were flown in a DMO simulator system and the design NP was varied between missions. Observers viewed debriefs of these missions and attempted to identify TTP-regulated air combat tasks. Once identified, they scored the pilots’ NP in those tasks. The scoring was based on the level of TTP adherence and the impact a nonadherence had on the mission accomplishment.

RESULTS: All observers were able to identify most of the TTP-regulated air combat tasks. There was a strong positive correlation between the observed and design NP scores. The overall Kappa indicated a fair agreement between the observers. The percentage of observers’ NP assessments which agreed with the design NP varied from 49.60 to 85.28% in different air combat missions. On average, 73.96% of the observers’ NP scores agreed with the design NP scores.

CONCLUSIONS: Observers were able to accurately identify TTP-regulated tasks and score NP of these tasks during an air combat debrief. There was a moderate agreement between the observers’ NP scores.

Mansikka H, Virtanen K, Mäkinen L, Harris D. Normative performance measurement in simulated air combat. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(11):908–912.