Using cognitive work analysis to describe the role of UAVs in military operations

Advances in uninhabited vehicle design have resulted in increased levels of autonomy – allowing command to be communicated at high levels of abstraction, rather than detailed control. The resultant change in interaction requirements has obvious implications for the redesign of current operator interfaces. Furthermore, it allows the organisation design to be reconsidered. A reduction in the requirement for human involvement could allow control to be passed from dedicated remote controllers to actors involved directly with local tasks. This offers a number of potential benefits. Those involved with the task directly may have a greater situational understanding, allowing them to make faster decisions that are more informed. Furthermore, dynamic function allocation would allow assets to be shared, with command passed to the actor best placed to make decisions. This article uses a systemic approach, cognitive work analysis (CWA), to explore the constraints within military air operations, and derive systemic information requirements. The understanding developed from the CWA of the military air operations domain constraints is used to postulate the implications of introducing unmanned air vehicles. The example illustrates how the constraint-based approach can form the basis for considering system change.