System and method for aircraft gunnery training and accuracy evaluation

Abstract

A system for aircraft gunnery training and accuracy evaluation wherein a head-up display unit employs a cathode ray tube for projecting simulated bullets on a pilot's sighting panel. The simulated bullets each comprise a pair of bullet trajectory indicia simulating the firing of the guns of the aircraft at an actual target. The indicia in a pair of bullet trajectory indicia are equidistantly spaced from the simulated trajectory path by an amount related to a selected dimension of the target. Each pair of bullet trajectory indicia are initially displayed to reflect the physical conditions of the aircraft at the time of firing, including the rates of aircraft roll, pitch and yaw, the aircraft lift acceleration, true aircraft airspeed, gun angle of attack, and relative air density. As the bullet trajectory indicia traverse the simulated trajectory path, the separation between the indicia comprising a pair of indicia is decreased to simulate increasing distance from the firing aircraft. A hit of a target occurs when a pair of bullet trajectory indicia are observed to overlie the target and the indicia in the pair are separated by a distance equal to the selected target dimension.