A pilot-wellness-informed ecological framework for human-autonomy teaming in future fighter aviation

Abstract

Future fighter operations are expected to combine increasingly capable autonomy, collaborative aircraft, dense sensor information, and sustained physiological and cognitive demands. This Perspective proposes a pilot-wellness-informed ecological framework in which the pilot, a pilot-specific digital twin, an intelligent flight-management system, the aircraft, and external agents are treated as interdependent elements within a systems-of-systems framework. The framework does not replace situation awareness, distributed cognition, joint cognitive systems, adaptive automation, or human-autonomy teaming. Instead, it extends their unit of analysis by making the pilot’s dynamic physiological and neurocognitive state, longitudinal variability, and health-related constraints explicit system variables and design objectives. The pilot digital twin is defined narrowly as an individualized state-estimation and forecasting capability, whereas the intelligent flight-management system integrates pilot, platform, mission, and environmental information to provide explainable recommendations and, where authorized, bounded adaptive action. We identify testable propositions concerning individualized prediction, adaptive support, shared situation awareness, trust calibration, and governance. The framework is prospective and requires validation in simulation, training, and operationally representative environments. Its purpose is to organize research toward systems that protect pilot agency, sustain performance, and preserve long-term health while exploiting increasingly autonomous teammates.