European Defence Fund: Enhanced Pilot Environment Programme

This requires the development of new equipment and associated software that can take advantage of new technologies such as wearables, optics, haptics, voice command, virtual operator assistants, augmented reality, and 3D holography.

Based on appropriate implementation concepts, this would free crew members from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus their resources on high-value areas of action, and also support in mission execution, thereby improving combat effectiveness.

Scope

• With a view to contributing to the development of new generations of air combat and training aircraft and systems in the EU, including existing manned and unmanned air platforms, or to upgrading those currently in service, the proposals must:
  • Mature the required cutting-edge technological and engineering solutions for future enhanced pilot environments, including cockpits, through evaluation and demonstration in representative operational scenarios.
  • Produce common high-level “platform agnostic” specifications and guidelines for HMI design for future cockpit equipment.
  • Specify and perform, where applicable, prototyping activities for cockpit equipment incorporating these maturated solutions.

Focus Areas

• Taking into account the new paradigm of human-machine teaming in future collaborative and connected air warfare, this call topic aims to address the following areas:
  • New or disruptive Human-Machine Interface (HMI) technologies, such as displays, wearables, vocal dialogue, augmented reality, stereoscopy.
  • Pilot status monitoring in relation to the mission and systems status.
  • Assisted decision-making support based on advanced techniques like Artificial Intelligence (AI) not excluding other approaches.
• Proposals must therefore address the following four areas:
  • Adaptive human system collaboration: to improve tactical situational awareness and enable ergonomic crew-machine cooperation for safe flight and high performance in cooperation with both manned and unmanned assets.
  • Visualisation: both visualisation products and advanced pilot information presentation capabilities, including 3D presentation, and other novel presentations.
  • Crew monitoring system (CMS): to monitor in real time the physiological and cognitive states of the crew, through systems and techniques, enabling the adaptation of the HMI in a way to support and assist the aircrew in performing the flight and mission control in demanding operational environments.
  • Interaction modalities: to address both the modalities of interaction as well as their combination through innovative HMI technologies, such as but not limited to wearable, optics, haptics, vocal command, and virtual operator assistant.

Expected Outcomes

• The outcome should contribute to:
  • European platforms for enhanced combat pilot technologies tests and demonstrations to welcome joint or national tests and demonstration needs.
  • Consolidation of a sector of excellence in the EU for enhanced combat pilot based on innovative technologies.
  • Generation of inputs for the mid-term and long-term development of next generation air combat cockpit HMI.
  • The development of novel cockpit HMI technologies.
  • Increase mission capability, efficiency, effectiveness, and performance in air combat missions (e.g., safer for pilot and helping to limit the collateral damage) exploiting the emerging technologies.
  • Provision of a potential starting point for developing EU guidelines in the frame of advanced HMI design for managing systems-of-systems operations.
  • Provision of an opportunity for cross-ministries of defence and cross-industries exchanges in the subject of cockpit design and pilot operating procedures.
  • Strengthen EU industry in advanced air combat cockpit technologies independent of third countries.
  • Quick wins identification to be implemented on current or upcoming systems.

Eligible Activities

• Activities that aim to increase interoperability and resilience, including secured production and exchange of data, to master critical defence technologies, to strengthen the security of supply or to enable the effective exploitation of results for defence products and technologies
• Studies, such as feasibility studies to explore the feasibility of new or upgraded products, technologies, processes, services and solutions
• Design of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology as well as the definition of the technical specifications on which such a design has been developed, including any partial test for risk reduction in an industrial or representative environment
• System prototyping of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
• Testing of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
• Qualification of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
• Certification of a defence product, tangible or intangible component or technology
• Development of technologies or assets increasing efficiency across the life cycle of defence products and technologies.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, all applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must cumulatively:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies)
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
    • non-EU countries:
      • EEA countries (‘EDF associated countries’)
  • have their executive management structure established in eligible countries
  • not be subject to control by a non-associated third country or non-associated third-country entity.

For more information, visit European Commission.