Yes BEagle and if you read the Service Inquiry then you will find this little chestnut on the WatchKeeper (WK) Unmanned Aircraft (UA):
WK is a fully automated system, which means that the crew have no way of taking control from the autopilot. On other platforms taking control from the auto pilot and manually flying with a level attitude and a safe power setting would usually be sufficient to protect against stall should CAS become erratic and erroneous. The Panel noted that ESL's Hermes 450 could be flown manually in 'sticks' mode, giving the operator or external pilot full throttle and stick control of the platform as required. The system architecture for WK is, however, quite different and there is currently no way of manually flying the UA.
So I read the fact that Watch Keeper is ‘point and click’ without flying controls it is very different to Reaper or Protector that has a throttle, stick and rudder. Indeed, the one Reaper that suffered an issue an engine failure over Afghanistan was successfully ‘dead sticked’ onto the desert floor by a Reaper pilot (who was a FJ QFI) and if it wasn’t in a contested area when the CH47 went to recover the sensitive parts with chainsaws then it probably could have been fixed and flown again. The final
coup de grace was delivered by a GR7/9 with a Paveway to ensure that nothing was left to use by enemy forces.
The latest advanced Ground Control Station (GCS) for Protector makes you feel like you are looking out of a multi-engine ISTAR aircraft cockpit window. I’ve flown this GCS and it gives an unparalleled level of situational awareness to the crew with overlaid information on that 3D cockpit view - I wish I had that in the Tonka!
This is a significant convergence between manned aviation and unmanned which is why it is now a separate specialisation within the Pilot sub-branch within the Flying Branch rather than sitting totally separately. Whilst their selection will still be separate from the others but with the ability to ‘cross-over’ like FJ, RW and ME have in the past. The pilots of Reaper and Protector complete EFT and some live instrument flying before going to fly live Reaper (soon Protector) and much simulator time. A procedural IR is also becoming a must as these aircraft start to ‘mix it’ within various FIRs with manned traffic. So treating these unmanned pilots as
de facto Aircrew is one thing the RAF (and other nations) have got right and possibly where the JHC/Royal Artillery/Army have not? But then again, with just ‘point and click’ with Watch Keeper, then you are going to struggle to keep traditional pilots interested.