Charles River Analytics to Develop Aerial Refueling Mission Toolkit for Navy

Charles River Analytics has received a contract extension from the U.S. Navy to continue developing a multimodal toolkit designed to offer pilot spatial perception during aerial refueling missions.

The company said Monday it will further develop the Ecological Advanced Support Interface Toolkit for Heads Up Attention to Improve Warfighter Knowledge system under a two-year, $1M contract.

EASI-HAWK is being developed to employ human-machine interfaces and auditory, visual and augmented reality mechanisms.

“Aerial refueling is one of the most demanding and dangerous tasks that pilots perform,” said Stephanie Kane, a senior scientist at Charles River Analytics.

She added the human-machine interfaces used on EASI-HAWK would help increase safety of pilots when they perform critical missions. 

The technology also seeks to reduce pilot risks of suffering “the leans,” or the spatial disorientation due to continued, long-sustained bank turns during refueling activities, the company noted.