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Impact of blue force tracking on combat identification judgments
David J Bryant1, David G Smith
1Socio-Cognitive Systems Section, Defence Research and Development Canada-Toronto, Ontario. David.Bryant@drdc-rddc.gc.ca
Human Factors
|March 23, 2013
Summary
Blue Force Tracking (BFT) decision support enhances dismounted infantry performance. However, BFT effectiveness significantly decreases with data latency, increasing fratricide risk.
Area of Science:
- Military technology
- Human-computer interaction
- Cognitive science
Background:
- Combat Identification (CID) technologies are advancing for dismounted soldiers.
- Blue Force Tracking (BFT) systems aim to reduce fratricide by sharing friendly unit locations.
- Enhanced situational awareness is a key goal of BFT implementation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of Blue Force Tracking (BFT) as a decision support tool for dismounted infantry.
- To assess the impact of BFT system latency on soldier performance and fratricide risk.
Main Methods:
- Participants simulated dismounted infantry roles in a first-person gaming environment.
- Engagement decisions were made on simulated targets, including both enemy and friendly forces.
- A BFT system was utilized, with variations in data update latency.
Main Results:
- Soldiers using BFT demonstrated improved performance compared to those without.
- A 10-second latency in BFT data significantly increased false alarms (engaging friendly targets).
- Knowledge of latency did not mitigate the increased error rate.
Conclusions:
- Personal BFT devices show potential for reducing dismounted infantry fratricide.
- Real-time data is critical for BFT effectiveness; latency severely degrades performance.
- Findings support developing BFT performance standards and evaluating decision support systems.
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