Originally Posted by
sense1
Mmm, of all the issues going on in defence post SDSR this one is rather, erm, irrelevant/childish/ a wind up?! .... delete as required!
But to humour such a question.... in order to get rid of the navigators - or Weapon Systems Officers as they are now called (take note of the name - it gives a clue as to how much navigating the back seaters do nowadays!) - you would have to do one of the following....
- Take the GR4 out of service
What tosh, take the Nav's out and replace them with the many pilots we have looking for places post SDSR, if Nav's can do the job then your avarage pilot will manage it with one hand tied behind his/her back.
- Complete a major modification to the GR4 fleet (and I can only imagine how major!) to remove all the systems from the back seat and put em in the front or...
No need if you put a pilot in the back, plus if they swap between front and rear we double our crewing options whilst getting them up to speed for future platforms.
- Just keep things as they are for the next few years until you have a force of Typhoon and JSF as is the plan and then the issue is resolved.
There is no place for the WSO in the future of aviation so lets start forward thinking now bin the lot of them and move pilots into the few flying posts that Nav's fill at the mo
I think that those who are bored enough to read your post - as I am sitting waiting on the snow to melt such that I can escape my house - will go for the latter, as is the plan at the moment anyway.
Innit
Doubt it will happen but it's not a difficult concept