HH-60H Armed Helicopter Subsystem operator workload assessment

This thesis discusses an operator workload assessment of the Armed Helicopter Subsystem (AHS) on the U.S. Navy HH-60H Seahawk Helicopter. The workload assessment was conducted in addition to developmental test and evaluation at Naval Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Squadron at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD and Eglin Air Force Base, Ft Walton Beach, F1 between 25 November 1997 and 13 August 1998.

Department of Defense instructions, standards, human factors specifications, previous test plans, and reports of test results were studied to determine initial areas of focus and previous lessons learned. Specific operator workload was evaluated using the Bedford Workload Scale during verification of all the Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and AGM-114 Hellfire Missile launch and designation modes in mission representative flight profiles. Both ground and flight tests were conducted to verify specification and test and evaluation master plan compliance and mission suitability for the Combat Search and Rescue (Combat SAR), and Anti Surface Warfare (ASUW) missions. FLIR test scope was reduced by use of the results of the U.S. Navy SH-60B AN/AAS-44 FLIR Contingency Kit and Rapid Deployment Kit developmental test and evaluation programs. Operator workload was assessed during software, FLIR, captive carriage, and live fire developmental flight tests. Night Vision Devices (NVDs) were used on two of the six Hellfire Missile shots.

Overall operator workload was high, particularly during remote Hellfire Missile shot setup and autonomous Hellfire Missile laser guidance. During the Combat SAR mission, the operator was performing multiple tasks, including navigation and communication subtasks. Since little spare capacity was left for FLIR operation, the author recommends using either offset forward track or scan mode. Recommendations include inverting the FLIR turret and suspending it from the mounting platform.