Human Factors in Defence: Human Factors in Defence

Human factors is key to enabling today’s armed forces to implement their vision to ’produce battle-winning people and equipment that are fit for the challenge of today, ready for the tasks of tomorrow and capable of building for the future’ (source: UK MoD). Modern armed forces fulfil a wider variety of roles than ever before. In addition to defending sovereign territory and prosecuting armed conflicts, military personnel are engaged in homeland defence and in undertaking peacekeeping operations and delivering humanitarian aid right across the world. This requires top class personnel, trained to the highest standards in the use of first class equipment. The military has long recognised that good human factors is essential if these aims are to be achieved. The defence sector is far and away the largest employer of human factors personnel across the globe and is the largest funder of basic and applied research. Much of this research is applicable to a wide audience, not just the military; this series aims to give readers access to some of this high quality work. Ashgate’s Human Factors in Defence series comprises of specially commissioned books from internationally recognised experts in the field. They provide in-depth, authoritative accounts of key human factors issues being addressed by the defence industry across the world.