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The future of
fighter aircraft

regional and political threats to the pilot's role

Regional conflict poses the greatest risk to fighter aircraft and to the warfighter in the cockpit. Robert Sanchez and Don Hellmers also think that politics are playing an important role in shaping future aircraft capabilities.

Not long ago a USAF F-16 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in the no-fly zone over Bosnia. It was paramount to rescue the airman to avoid him suffering harm from captors and to ensure he did not become a political hostage in regional political processes. Mission safety and political risks are driving the warfighter from the seat and reinforcing the use of unmanned aircraft for attack on low-value targets as well as high-risk hazardous missions. This does not imply this option will eliminate the need for fighter pilots. It merely offers military commanders and political leaders alternatives to losing valuable crew men on hazardous missions.

The future of fighter aircraft manned or unmanned is changing rapidly to keep pace with current and future threats

The command and control of unmanned fighter aircraft has evolved from the mid 1970s conversion of F-86 fighters into full-scale aerial targets (FSATs). Total command authority of an aircraft from take-off to landing without a pilot has been fully demonstrated and evolved to execute sophisticated missions using retired aircraft. The conversion of aircraft to unmanned drones provides a realistic threat to ensure effective aircrew training and weapon-system evaluation. Target aircraft have allowed the US to prove the reliability of weapons systems and build confidence in the warfighter and they have developed technology and methodology to allow tactical use of unmanned aircraft.

Previously, the capabilities and development process of front-line fighters and FSATs have remained independent because of major differences in operational and performance requirements. However, as aircraft systems became more complex, state-of-the-art avionics advanced to automate pilot functions such as flight control and navigation. These same advancements also occurred in aerial targeting and the requirements associated with front-line fighter aircraft and aerial targets have merged.

The F-16 aircraft has proved to be one of the world's most reliable and effective tactical fighters

The F-16 aircraft has proved to be one of the world's most reliable and effective tactical fighters. Its inherent fly-by-wire flight control system and other advanced avionics provide an excellent testbed for evaluation and demonstration of future fighter technology. FSAT system technology can be easily adapted to a wide range of aircraft interfaces. The digital bus architecture of the F-16 minimises complex and troublesome interfaces seen on older aircraft converted into FSAT drones. The F-16 aircraft design also provides the kinematics, signature, offensive/defensive capabilities, maintainability and flight-control redundancy characteristics to ensure support for any future programme from all critical assessment perspectives.
To equip an aircraft for remote operation requires a system architecture and design that allows remote operation and monitoring of all mission-essential subsystems during all mission phases. Existing aircraft functions that must be operated/monitored include as a minimum flight-control and stability augmentation systems; engine-control and monitoring aircraft auxiliary systems; payload and aircraft systems. Remote control of these systems is facilitated by a sophisticated automatic flight control computer (AFCC) and command/ telemetry system that ties into existing aircraft bus structure and works with existing systems rather than replacing functions. The CTS provides the data link to the ground-control station and down/up link message encoding/decoding function. For tactical capability a jamming-proof satellite system can be used. The AFCC provides the airborne command and control processing and interface to each subsystem and on-board automated functions to minimise the workload of the ground station controller. Many of these automated functions are used in FSAT operations and can be adapted for additional tactical roles. To accommodate specific operational requirements and user needs, ancillary drone sub-systems are installed into target aircraft. These include scoring systems, flight-termination and visual enhancement systems. Unmanned tactical aircraft could be fitted with missiles and other munitions, operational offensive/ defensive systems and reconnaissance equipment and would be capable of manoeuvres that would incapacitate today's warfighter. Complex pre-programmed high G manoeuvres could improve survivability in high-risk environments.
The adaptive nature of state-of-the-art FSAT systems such as the QF-4 and the performance characteristics of the F.16 aircraft provide an effective combination to conduct any future aircraft evaluation programme. Aerial target technology has successfully demonstrated remote operation of a high-performance aircraft during all phases of flight, while the F.16 provides an airframe with proven war- fighting subsystems.
The future of fighter aircraft manned or unmanned is changing rapidly to keep pace with current and future threats. In the Gulf it was air power that neutralised the threat. But what is the role of the fighter? With the melding of drone technology and aircrew fighting skills, a fighter aircraft could improve its capability radically so that what was once a dream could become reality.

Aerial target technology has successfully demonstrated remote operation of a high performance aircraft during all phases of flight

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