Originally Posted by
pr00ne
Lima Juliet,
"Pretty much every other air force has adopted 2 seat, so is it time for change?"
Er, like who?
F-16, F-35, Typhoon, Gripen, F/A-18, Su-27, Su-30, Su-35 all single seat. Surely the only 2 seat are legacy like F-15E and F/A-18D and a few Rafale anomalies?
I think 1 pilot reducing to 0 pilot is the way rather than 1 to 2...
So it looks like F15X is going to have 2 seaters, plus the F15E then there are the USMC/USN F18D and F18F (plus the RAAF’s Growler). Then there is the new Israeli F16I which is a 2 seat only variant for deep strike and EW missions. The French have 139 Rafale Bs to replace the 2000N and others, plus they are looking at more 2 seaters. The Sukhoi Su 30 is a two-seater only and is in operation with 13 different nations. The Su 34 is the same as a two seat only aircraft but only in operation with 2 countries. Then there was the Israelis that asked for a 2-seat version of the F35 for wild weasel missions - I believe LM refused. Then the latest fighter variant from Airbus, for France, Germany and possibly Spain is a two seater. Finally, talking to the some of the Tempest team they are also considering two seat (but that is 15 years away).
So quite a few actually...
This is Airbus’s two seat concept to replace German PA200 Tornado and French Rafale.