Crewman's associate (CA) cognitive decision aiding (CDA) applications for the U.S. Army's future main battle tanks

Abstract

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) decision making for the U.S. Army's future main battle tank (FMBT) is currently under investigation by the TACOM crewman's associate (CA) program. McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems is supporting this research by adapting rotorcraft pilot's associate (RPA) program's techniques under study for helicopters to ground combat weapons systems. This research centers on an armored unit mission scenario which contains several key crew decision points where cognitive decision aiding (CDA) is applied. The study identifies the mission segment functions where the CDA can augment the crew's decision making process (i.e. an en route mission change, actions-on-contact with the enemy, and a hasty attack). The CA program has defined unique crew aiding behaviors (called CABs) which partition the tasks between the FMBT crew and the CDA processors on-board so as to best utilize the advantages of the human crewmember and the computer planner-assessor. Crew selectable levels of the associate functioning are possible as illustrated by the implementation of the CABs in various CA advanced technology demonstrations (e.g. combined arms command and control-CAC2, hit avoidance, target acquisition, mobility, and crewstation design). The RPA task network logic structure is used to trigger the scenario event file and control the flow of the task partitioning, timing, and interactions. Areas of CDA commonality between the rotorcraft pilot's and crewman's associates are identified. CDA applications for the Army's combined arms operations exploit “interoperability” in both situational awareness and information transfer between ground maneuver and aviation units. Potential benefits of these CDA applications for the FMBT crew and the armor platoon or higher echelon units are also cited.