Growbag,
All true. The 'societal risk' captures the need to be seen to do something, which is the unfortunate position we've got ourselves into.
CGB,
I'm not aware of any front-line combat aircraft having a CWS, and there are plenty out there with poorer cockpit visibility than the Tornado. However, 'no-one else has one' does't mean that it's impracticable to have one. I think the focus has fallen upon Tornado because it does a lot of flying at low level, without any kind of surveillance service, mixing with autonomous traffic, often at the lower end of VMC criteria, with the crew spending at least some of their lookout time ensuring they don't hit the ground. DG MAA seems to be trying his best in the Convening Authority comments to build a societal case for installation of CWS in Typhoon and F-35, but the different operating environments of those aircraft (much greater use of segregated airspace, under some kind of surveillance or control) mean that the risks do not read directly across from Tornado. Besides, if anyone thinks that it would be remotely practicable to install a CWS in Typhoon or F-35 at anything other than prohibitive cost, then please do tell how; perhaps you could apply the same techniques to installing the operational capabilities that we are paying through the nose for! I'm not aware of any stealthy TCAS antennae being available COTS, before anyone asks.