An Assessment of the Navigation Performance of Army Aviators Under Nap- of-the-Earth Conditions

Abstract : The introduction of Nap-of-the-Earth (NOE) tactics presents special difficulties to Army rotary wing aviators, particularly in navigation. The extent of terrain in the navigator's field of view is greatly reduced, owing to the proximity to the ground; also, the interpretation of the terrain features depicted on an aerial map is difficult because the view is much more oblique than in normal flight. This research effort had four specific goals: (1) To determine the present level of aviation NOE performance, (2) To develop and evaluate a qualitative NOE navigation performance measure, (3) To measure the effects of additional terrain-analysis training, and (4) To measure the effects of flight experience on NOE performance. The findings from this study formulated the departure point for a thorough analysis of the NOE navigation requirements leading toward an NOE navigation instructional program for Initial Entry Rotary Wing (IERW) and operational units.