An Assessment of the Emergency Egress Characteristics of the U.S. Army Airborne Command and Control System (A2C2S)

Abstract

The U.S. Army Airborne Command and Control System (A2C2S) is a command and control (C2) system consisting of an A-kit and a B-kit and will be hosted by the utility helicopter (UH)-60L (and newer) Blackhawk. The A2C2S Product Manager (PM) requested the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's (ARL's) Human Research and Engineering Directorate to perform an evaluation of the emergency egress characteristics of the A2C2S to help support the low rate initial production (LRIP) milestone decision. ARL and the PM developed a plan to evaluate the emergency egress characteristics of the A2C2S using a combination of human figure modeling and egress testing. The evaluation plan used human figure modeling to perform a detailed analysis of all egress routes to identify whether the larger end of the male Soldier population, with equipment, could fit through the egress routes and to identify design characteristics of the A2C2S that enhance or degrade the Soldier's ability to egress the aircraft. The emergency egress test was used to validate the results of the model, verify that the egress could meet the time requirements, and identify additional safety concerns that may be encountered during actual egress trials. The results of the egress modeling identified some shortcomings with the egress characteristics of the A2C2S; however, the results were favorable. The results of the egress testing validated the modeling that was performed. In addition, all egress trials successfully met or exceeded the 30-second time standard for emergency egress. The results and recommendations from the modeling and testing were provided to the PM to help drive design modifications that, if implemented, could enhance the emergency egress characteristics of the A2C2S.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA443464

Entities

People

  • Richard W. Kozycki
  • Thomas J. Havir

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Artillery
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Control Systems
  • Emergencies
  • Emergency Egress
  • Engineering
  • Human Systems Integration
  • Military Research
  • Standards
  • Systems Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Three Dimensional
  • Time Standards

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Occupational Health and Safety.
  • Software Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control