In the Swedish combat aircraft Gripen, the monochrome head down displays in the cockpit are to be upgraded in color. For this reason, FOA and Saab are in collaboration with the Swedish National Aviation Research Programme (NFFP, project 284a.The use of color coding for cockpit-display design´), have studied the effect of color coding in a visual search and detection experiment using a real-time simulation of an air-to-air mission with seven test pilots as subjects. The simulations were conducted in the Saab PMSIM, an advanced generic simulator for displays and control. The cockpit with its simulated cockpit displays is placed in a 3-metre radius dome. Combined CRT and LCD projection on the dome surface provides an out-the-window (OTW) display. The PMSIM is intended for military jet and helicopter full mission/air combat applications. In the present study, Gripen´s monochrome color scheme was compared to two chromatic (dichrome, polychrome) color schemes. The color schemes were based on basic principles for color diserimination, symbol coding, and color naming and were applied for the super-imposed symbols (targets, waypoints etc) and for the map symbology (land, water, roads) on the electronic map in the horizontal-situation display. The different color schemes were compared in a simulation that was as close as possible to a real-life situation. A 3x2x2 factorial repeated-measures design was used. Each of the three color schemes were tested for one simple background (open sea) and one more complex background (land including archipelago) and for each of these conditions, the symbols were presented either as an "assembled column" or a "scattered group." ´The pilots had two tasks during the simulation. The pilot had to do a head-down perceptual task while he was engaged in another bead-up tactical task. The head-up task was to track a maneuvering aircraft, using the HUD to stay within 5.5 km - 7.5 km of this aircraft and flying steadily toward it without deviating more than 2.5 degrees in any direction. The perceptual task ( a test of tactical situation awareness) was to detect the appearance of "priority threats" on the map display and respond by pressing a button on the control stick. Each pilot made 24 test runs. In every test run, the symbols to be detected were displayed at between four to six times at random time intervals. Three objective measures were recorded: a) deviations in flight path angle, b) reaction times of target detection, and c) number of targets correctly detected. After the test runs, the pilot answered questions and ranked the different schemes in different respects. The pilot also rated them for situation awareness using a subjective rating technique on cognitive compatibility (CC-SART). In summary, color is advantageous in comparison with a monochrome display: The ranks on situation awareness were higher for the chromatic schemes, the pilots gave higher preference ratings to the chromatic codes, and for the complex background, the reaction times were significantly lower for the polychrome color code. The results thus indicate that color can improve tactical situation awareness in combat aircraft