Situational Awareness Training for Operators of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In civilian operations, the utilisation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is diverse and the application needs and performance characteristics also vary widely. To this end, the growing opportunities for UAV operations have generated an urgent need for trained operators to ensure these systems are used effectively and safely. This paper discusses the importance and integration of appropriate non-technical skills (NTS) training with a focus on situation awareness (SA) to further improve UAV mission effectiveness. The paper explores technical design and human factors challenges impacting on UAV operations. While technical design solutions to UAV systems and interfaces are examined, the authors contend that specific training strategies, which focus on the human UAV operator, should also be considered