Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1995

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Aviation Systems

Major Professor

Ralph Kimberlin

Committee Members

Peter Solies

Abstract

This thesis presents a test methodology with which a flight test director can quantitatively evaluate a Radar Warning Receiver's (RWR) contribution to an aircrew's Situational Awareness (SA) in an operational environment that replicates combat-similar stress and workloads. Additionally, it presents a spreadheet-based simulation model that utilizes the flight test results from a SA comparison of two different RWRs to evaluate the effects of improved SA upon aircraft combat survivability. The thesis also presents a thought-process methodology which any Department of Defense (DoD) official charged with deciding whether or not to buy or "kill" a highly-complex, multi-million dollar weapon system can apply to any program: a thinking strategy that will assist the decision-maker in assessing both the operational effectiveness and value of a weapon system with apparently nebulous performance characteristics. Additionally, the author expands upon the ideas of other authors to present a proposed thinking strategy for assessing and predicting a system's cost effectiveness from the identification of the need for the system through the projected end of a system's useful life.

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