The pairwise escape-g metric: a measure for air combat maneuvering performance

The Air Force Research Laboratory, Warfighter Readiness Research Division, is continuously researching tools to measure performance of knowledge and skills from an individual level to the command and control (C/sup 2/) level, within both high fidelity distributed simulation environments and live training environments. Using the performance effectiveness tracking system (PETS), we ran preliminary testing of a metric called pairwise escape-g that uses a concept called the theoretical instantaneous probability of weapon intercept (TIPWI). TIPWI takes into account the current geometry of one aircraft against another for each given weapon (i.e., the physics-based envelope parameters) and is the weapon's probability of threat intercept at any instant during an engagement. This paper describes the initial application of the escape g metric within the distributed mission operations testbed (four high-fidelity F-16 simulators, one airborne warning and controller system console, and instructor operator station), preliminary outcomes, and suggested applications for this metric.