Weather Impact Decision Aids for Tactical Military Planning

Weather and it’s diurnal variations have a profound impact on performance of electro-optical (infrared, laser, TV, and night vision) weapon and navigation systems. Impacts most commonly occur during benign weather when actual aviation is not affected. Sophisticated physics models have been developed to translate conventional weather data into performance predictions such as target detection ranges. The Weather Automated Mission Planning Software (WAMPS) prototype demonstrates to the mission planning community and warfighting policy-makers how weather, and specifically physics-based Weather Impact Decision Aids (WIDAs), can benefit the mission planning process. Historically, the integration of focused weather information into the mission planning process has been difficult and haphazard at best. In the modern air battle campaign, hundreds or thousands of sorties must be planned and flown over a very short period of time. Automation is increasingly required to plan, execute, and re-plan missions quickly. This prototype demonstrates how WIDAs can be integrated into existing and planned automated mission planning architectures to employ electro-optical weapon systems more effectively against enemy targets. The prototype illustrates how WIDAs will help tactical planning in the Portable Flight Planning Software (PFPS) used by pilots to plan the execution of their mission.