In 1988 I was on the FJ Navigator Sub-Committee. Our man in the Ministry asked the question, "What is the future of the Navigator branch in the RAF?"
As it was, we thought, his job we were staggered. Now 22 years on Epsilon Minor has repeated the question.
The option for putting pilots into back seats could be seen as akin to 2nd and 3rd pilots in CA. They would need a little bit of enhanced training but not much. Pilots and navs on the F4 in the 60s did the same ground school so what is different?
Sense missed the point, no need to turn GR4s in to single seaters.
Many MPA pilots made a good fist of a tactical plot without the benefit of a tac display.
And the cost saving? Well 55 Sqn could be disbanded. I heard that it is likely that the Dominie will go out of service next year, so the answer is yes, now is probably the time to terminate the WSO specialisation.