Patent ID: 7043344

Claim:
A method of operating a plurality of vehicles, each said vehicle having a respective pilot, one of the pilots being a commander, the method comprising the steps of: (a) for each vehicle, receiving a respective initial status report from each of a plurality of subsystems of said each vehicle; (b) based on said initial status reports: for each vehicle: (i) formulating at least one respective first course of action, and (ii) presenting said at least one respective first course of action to the commander; (c) for each vehicle, assigning one of said at least one respective first course of action to said each vehicle, by the commander; (d) for each vehicle, subsequently receiving a respective subsequent status report from each said subsystem of said each vehicle, said subsequent status reports being received continuously at a rate that exceeds an assimilation rate of the pilot of said each vehicle; and (e) based on said subsequent status reports: for each vehicle: (i) formulating at least one respective subsequent course of action, and (ii) if, for one of the vehicles, at least one of said at least one respective subsequent course of action differs from said respective assigned course of action, presenting said at least one respective subsequent course of action to at least one pilot selected from the group consisting of the pilot of said one vehicle and the commander.