Facilitator,
I hope you have the credentials that you "have done the job" and are therefore able to justify your claim that the J model CAN do the job we are on about.
Of course I have a biased opinion.....I want to see the aircraft perform to it's utmost and as safe as possible...or did that escape your attention? I said I didn't care if it was a Nav/Eng, or PNF/WSO as you quite rightly pointed out from your so obvious two winged rhetoric. It is a shame that you didn't get to fly Harriers or Jags, and then you could have been even happier all by yourself!
If you have "done the job", then you should have known that in certain threat environments the loadie will be in the bubble, heads out for all the nasties that are trying to shoot you out of the sky. For this and the requirement for him to be down the back a lot of the time he cannot be relied upon to be there to process the information I was on about. If you speak to any of the lads that have been involved in the operations conducted before Christmas, then you will not get much support for your insistance that the J can do everything. I completely agree with you that the navigation side is much simpler and that is a huge workload reduced and this all because the FMS is never wrong....or is it????
Your comment about how J crews will be trained to communicate, authenticate and reply to C3 elements timely is fine because war/conflicts always follow a clear set of rules and structures.......doesn't it???
I am not wishing to throw stones and so damage your ivory tower, but the Herc is a mighty beast and can't be tipped on it's arse and the afterburners shoved in to get out of trouble, or even use Martin Bakers wonderful invention that you clearly hanker after..........
Your comments have only confirmed that you are a "No stick/No vote man" and I am glad that you are on another type to me.
Happy flying........