Tactical Situation Modelling of MUM-T Helicopter Mission Scenarios using Influence Maps

The Institute of Flight Systems (IFS) at the Bundeswehr University Munich (BUM) conducts research in the area of military helicopter Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) scenarios. In order to support the crews in suchlike missions, the IFS investigates functions that enhances automated mission management concerning the command of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the execution of the mission. Previously conducted experiments and interviews with pilots of the German Armed Forces have shown that there is a need for the system to have a higher level of tactical situational awareness, enabling it to provide tactically relevant support. Typically, military scenarios are characterized by high complexity regarding the state space and information available. Influence Maps (IM) pose a way to represent and manage tactical information of these complex environments. In this article, we show how information of an operating area can be represented using IMs and how these IMs can then be used to conduct tactical inference or assessment. The resulting IMs are used to assess the helicopter flight route and generate tactical reconnaissance target candidates.