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Two aspects of team communication, speech acts and communication problems, and their relation to team performance in a team air combat simulator were studied. The purpose was to enhance the understanding of how team performance is related to team communication. Ten Swedish fighter pilots and four fighter controllers of varying experience participated. Data were collected during fighter simulator training involving four pilots and one fighter controller in each of two teams. Speech acts were collapsed over seven categories and communication problems over five categories. Communication was studied from two perspectives: critical situation outcome and mission outcome. Some problems were closely related to particular speech acts. Speech act frequency, especially meta-communications and tactics, was highest when winning. However, the timing of tactics in critical situations needs further research. Communication problem frequency was highest for runs which ended equally. The most common problem was simultaneous speech, possibly because of the simulator radio system. The number of speech acts was related to enhanced performance but in a complex manner. Thus in order to work efficiently team members need to communicate, but to communicate sufficiently and at appropriate times. This work has applications for fighter pilot and controller team training and the development of communication standards.

Dismounted soldiers today use digital support for navigation and presentation of direction, and most likely such support will become standard equipment. Therefore, it is important to investigate how factors such as display size and performance time influence the ability to transform information on the map to positions in the terrain. An experiment was performed with two display sizes (3.5-inch and 9.7-inch). The participants' task was to indicate direction to positions in the terrain represented by target symbols on a digital map with four different time limits (5s, 10s, 15s, and 20s). Participants with low spatial ability (measured by PTSOT) had lower precision with the small display, whereas participants with medium and high spatial ability performed equally well with both displays. When the time limit was shortened, task load increased, but performance was not affected. The results also confirm that important aspects of spatial ability can be discriminated by PTSOT.

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We compared a visual GPS, a tactile torso belt, and a 3D audio display in a waypoint navigation task for dismounted soldiers. Using these displays one at a time, the soldier's main tasks were to walk as fast and straight as possible towards the waypoints while visually scanning the terrain for detection of target flags. The results showed that all three types of displays gave similar navigation precision and target detection performance. The visual display entailed a somewhat higher navigation speed than the tactile and 3D audio displays. Both the visual and 3D audio displays, however, were rated as directing attention away from the terrain more than the tactile display. Compared to the tactile display, a higher mental workload was reported for the 3D audio, which was also rated least suitable for operational use in navigation tasks. Yet, the soldiers' ability to localize directions to waypoints with the 3D audio display may point to its potential use for radio communication and cueing of directions to threats. In an overall evaluation, eight soldiers preferred the tactile display and four the visual, while none preferred the 3D audio. We discuss the results mainly regarding shortcomings of the study and the possibility of developing and combining the three display types for the dismounted soldier.