Examination of Factors Related to Pilot Acceptance Behaviors toward the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System in Fighter Aircraft Operations

Objective: This research aimed to explore an application of the technology

acceptance model (TAM) to integration of the automatic ground collision

avoidance system (AGCAS) in fighter aircraft operations to gain a better

understanding of the pilots’ acceptance behavior with respect to a highlevel

automated system.

Background: AGCAS has been deployed to prevent loss of F-16 fighters

from ground collision using a high-level automation design capable of

altering the aircraft’s flight control system independent of pilot action.

Understanding pilots’ acceptance behavior with respect to the system

could allow future stakeholders to make reasonable inferences about

some factors that are important to achieving positive pilot acceptance of

highly automated aircraft systems.

Method: Using data from a survey of active-duty U.S. Air Force F-16 operational

fighter pilots (N = 142), an AGCAS-specific TAM was analyzed using

the structural equation modeling method.

Results: This study indicated that perceived ease of use had a significant, but

only medium-sized relationship with perceived usefulness. The other result

was that perceived usefulness has a strong relationship with usage behavior.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the potential utility of a model for

technology acceptance tailored to explain user acceptance behavior with

respect to a high-level fighter aircraft automated collision avoidance system.