Warfighter Performance Group
USAARL's Warfighter Performance Group (WPG) is dedicated to filling knowledge gaps and delivering research products that answer critical concerns raised across the spectrum of operational domains, specifically related to Military Operational Medicine Research Program task areas and work units, Future Vertical Lift, Soldier Lethality, and the Next Generation Combat Vehicle. WPG is at the forefront of multi-domain operations aviation research, with WPG scientists in leadership roles for this effort. The WPG team consists of a group of scientists with experience in multiple disciplines and backgrounds, including psychology, physiology, aviation medicine, optometry, audiology, engineering, physics, mathematics, and statisticians, among others.
WPG is divided among three functional teams: Aeromedical Integration, Human Integration, and Modeling and Simulation. Many of the researchers in WPG support multiple aspects of the human dimension. WPG's focus is to develop innovative biomedical solutions to support, extend, and enhance the operational performance of Army aircrew. The majority of WPG's core research is in support of Future Vertical Lift developmental initiatives. The Group's core research in this area is endorsed by the FVL Cross Functional Team (CFT) with scheduled delivery of research products that support the CFT's research and development timeline. Emphasis is on the medical aspects of operator workload assessment and monitoring and the development of solutions to improve situational awareness and aircrew performance, especially in operationally intense and austere environments. Research efforts are also focused on human-centered design in various airframes.
Specific facilities and capabilities include:
- Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) research simulator
- Night vision laboratory
- Virtual reality laboratory
- Electro-optical research laboratory
- Helmet Mounted Displays (HMD)s and Heads-up Displays (HUD)s
- Night vision systems
- Photometry and radiometry
- Distributed aperture systems
- Image quality assessments
- Color standards
- Normobaric hypoxia laboratory
- Precision air rifle marksmanship range
- Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000 combat weapons research simulator
- Acoustical research laboratory
- Customized hearing protection
- American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Standards Association (ASA) standards testing
- Vestibular testing suite
- Psychophysiological testing suites