Air Force issued a request for information for a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) 3D-audio system in order to improve the spatial, battlespace, and situational awareness of its A-10C pilots. The system – which is accurate to within 15 degrees of source signal azimuth and elevation – can also provide terrain obstruction warnings and link display and auditory directional cues together. Initial studies in a cockpit environment comparison test showed that pilots perceived the direction of an approaching missile threat 1.5 seconds faster by using 3D-audio cuing compared to only using a cockpit panel-mounted display. Terma is the first company in the world to develop and field 3D-audio technology to reduce pilot workload and enhance situational awareness.
Terma’s 3D-audio system is already employed by the Royal Danish Air Force on its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fourth-generation multirole fighters and can alert pilots to a variety of imminent threats by collecting data from aircraft missile warning systems, radar warner receivers, laser warner systems, and small arms detection systems by sending processed audio to a stereo headset. The natural or "spatially separated" audio signals will be similar to what a human would hear when not wearing a conventional headset. The Terma 3D-audio system will enhance pilot situational awareness by supplementing the A-10C cockpit control panel visual warning system with audible directional signals from within the pilot's helmet.
Air Force will equip between 150 and 200 Fairchild-Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II combat aircraft with 3D-audio systems developed by Terma A/S, a Lystrup, Denmark-based aerospace and defense firm. Initial studies in a cockpit environment comparison test showed that the pilot would perceive the direction of an approaching missile threat 1.5 seconds faster by using 3D-audio cuing compared to a cockpit panel mounted display.
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