Originally Posted by
vee en
But in military aviation [the navigator] has a presence and his task has also undergone a revolutionary change. That is why a serious review is needed - in the right forum.
Sorry VeeN,
I was a member of a committee over 20 years ago. The 'senior' nav present, who was serving at the Ministry asked "What is the future of the Navigator Branch in the Royal Air Force?"
We looked at him with incredulity as we assumed that HE was the one who would have the answer to the question.
Some 10 years later the 'solution' was to abolish the Navigator branch and create the WSO brevet. Initially the job didn't change and to suggest that the navigator or a transport or tanker aircraft was a weapons systems operator was frankly ludicrous.
Another 10 years on and the straight navigator role has all but disappeared and with the eventual retirement of the C130K and VC10 it will linger to the death only in the E3. Heresy maybe but I guess even the E3 nav could go if they wanted to.