Autonomous Landing Guidance Concept - The Effects of Video and Symbology Dynamics on Pilot Performance

The requirement for all-weather autonomous landing and guidance (ALG) capability of tactical and transport aircraft has been recognized as a militarily significant application of emerging technology. The ALG concept consists of a self-contained inertial navigation system, forward looking infrared, and millimeter wave imaging sensor systems to provide augmented forward visibility in weather conditions, and landing guidance information presented on a head-up display. The object of this effort is to provide validation and demonstration of these concepts under conditions representative of all-weather recovery operation at prepared and unprepared landing areas, including battle-damaged and repaired minimum operating strips and concealed or covert forward locations. This paper presents the results of a study conducted to define the video and symbology dynamics required to reduce pilot disorientation and augment the low visibility real world visual scene during approach and landing.