Apache Longbow Integrated Crew Systems: Taking Complexity out of Radio Communications

The AH-64D communications system has required attention to usability at two levels: 1) On the surface level, human engineering controls and display management principles have effectively addressed design practices for communications format and consistency (Little & Hannen, 1993); 2) At a deeper usability level, workflow and interface structure had to be studied in order to design an interface that would reduce workload and error while still providing optimal functionality. Pilots have provided the foundation for communications system research by logging flight usability issues in the MANPRINT database. In addition, the Army Research Laboratory - Human Research and Engineering Directorate (ARL HRED) has stated that the number of steps required to configure a tactical radio as being greater than other system tasks in the aircraft (Durbin & Armstrong, 2001). Therefore, the reduction of steps required for tactical communications setup was targeted as the starting point for addressing future advancement of the Apache Longbow communications user interface. For this study, two tactical tuning automation processes were developed for the United Kingdom (U.K.) WAH-64 in order to validate whether a reduction in button pushes increased or decreased human performance. The presentation of the two tactical tuning prototypes was counterbalanced across a representative sample of eight study participants. Time, error, and subjective data were analyzed to identify the design criteria for automating tactical tuning. The results of the study support automation as the solution to the complex tactical tuning issue. However, it also revealed that reducing button pushes did not reduce errors or time to perform the task when the user is required to engage in recall memory processing. Therefore, it was concluded that a recognition task providing user feedback both during and following tactical tuning was key to developing an effective automated process. To date, this study has provided the design criteria for decreasing communications workload in the voice and digital tactical tuning for the U.K. WAH-64 and the U.S. Army AH-64D, Block 2.