Originally Posted by
Easy Street
I think you misunderstand. F-18 might as well not have an autoland feature, given that its pilots are required to maintain competence in manual landings, which forces practically all deck landings to be flown manually. But USN leadership deserves great credit for the progress it has made, and continues to make on automation. Are the leaders who have moved the culture away from "manual first" uninformed or clueless as to the relative value of CQ? For evidence of how much further the Navy is down this road than the USAF, see MQ-25.
For the avoidance of doubt, this is a compliment for naval aviation.
Totally.
Surely the future is not having 'aircrew' touch the aeroplane for take off or landing - these can be automatic functions - let the computer do this.
This halfway house of some auto functions is just a temporary stop on the march of progress.
Aircrew, while they still fly, will be airborne to put a human brain into battle management on the scene - essentially the job of a back seater.