Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, caused something of a stir at the annual Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. During an [A] informal ‘fireside chat’ with Lt. Gen. John Thompson of Space Command on Friday, Musk told a room packed with fighter pilots that “the fighter jet era has passed”. Now, Musk is renowned for finding soundbites for the media to hook onto, and also of causing [D] calculated disruption in his target audience, but even by his standards this is a well-baited line. What makes this such a bold and controversial statement?
The contemporary battlefield is far more networked, complex, congested and lethal – it’s those that adapt that will survive. Simply being ‘a good stick’ will rapidly no longer cut it in the hostile skies of the future.
Musk’s main thrust is, however, that the human in the cockpit is the limiting factor in air combat now, not the advantage.
Firstly, humans are awkward for aircraft designers to accommodate. In a modern fighter the pilot sits on an ejection seat for emergency escape, needs an oxygen supply and air-conditioning to function at extremes of temperature and altitude, and requires flight controls and instruments to fly and fight the machine. All of these add a significant amount of weight and cost into the aircraft. Moreover, having a transparent canopy to permit the crew to see out does [C] little to improve signature management1 as radar cross section and the chances of reflected sun glint all increase. The human also adds more weight, especially when encumbered with flight kit such as helmet, NVGs, g-suit and flight planning and survival equipment. Traditionally, pilots sit toward the front of the aircraft to afford them the best view for take-off and landing, as well as air combat. This has implications on aerodynamics, stealth1 design and weight distribution factors. In short, it can make the designers life a lot [B] simpler if the pilot/crew are not in the aircraft.
(Extracted from https://www.forbes.com/. Accessed on March 03, 2022.)
Vocabulary:
1. Signature management and stealth: both terms refer to technology that reduces the likelihood of personnel, aircrafts, missiles, etc. being detected.
