Reference News Network July 9 report: Japan Yahoo News published an article on July 5 titled "Why Are Twin-Seat Fighters Gaining Popularity Again?" by Shu Takeuchi, as follows:
Twin-seat fighter jets, which were almost phased out due to technological advancements, are now once again receiving attention because of the development of technology, and have found their place in the next-generation fighter jet programs of various countries. What role will twin-seat fighter jets play in the future?
Even today, some twin-seat fighter jets are still in service, such as the F/A-18F Super Hornet carrier-based fighter jet. However, most twin-seat fighter jets that have been in service since the 1990s have been used for training when transitioning between aircraft types. For the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet, which entered service in the early 21st century, and the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet that the Japan Air Self-Defense Force is currently introducing, even training can be conducted on simulators, so there was no development of twin-seat variants.
Until recently, it was believed that twin-seat fighter jets would completely exit the historical stage. However, with the emergence of unmanned aircraft systems known as "Collaborative Combat Aircraft" (CCA), twin-seat fighter jets may become popular again.
The U.S. Air Force is launching the latest version of the F-15 fighter jet—the F-15EX "Eagle" II fighter jet. In May, Boeing, the developer and manufacturer of the F-15EX, held a press conference about this fighter jet at the defense exhibition held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Boeing stated that the F-15EX can be operated by a single pilot, but in the case of a manned fighter jet controlling multiple CCA, a twin-seat fighter jet like the F-15EX is more appropriate.
In addition, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is developing the domestically produced fighter jet KF-21 "Falcon." Out of the six KF-21 prototypes, two are twin-seat models.
According to the project leader of the KF-21, the twin-seat prototypes are mainly used for training main pilots and allowing domestic and foreign individuals to try them out, and they have not been assigned the ability to control CCA.
He also said, "KAI and the Republic of Korea Air Force are developing an operational concept where the KF-21 controls multiple CCA. If this concept is put into practical use, it will be a heavy burden for the single-seat KF-21 pilot to control multiple CCA, so it is likely that a twin-seat production model designed primarily for controlling CCA will be developed."
France and other European countries conducted research on an unmanned fighter jet system called "Neuron" around the 2010s. At that time, under the technical conditions of the time, it was considered difficult for unmanned aircraft systems to cooperate with manned aircraft, so the concept was proposed of an operator sitting in the rear seat of a twin-seat fighter jet such as the "Rafale" or "JAS 39 Gripen" to control one "Neuron" unmanned aircraft.
However, with the rapid development of unmanned aircraft technology, it is now not only considered possible for unmanned aircraft to fly side by side with manned aircraft, but they can also launch attacks relying on artificial intelligence.
With the popularity of unmanned aircraft, the concept of "human-machine collaboration," in which only humans can make attack decisions that could endanger lives, is gradually taking shape.
For a manned fighter jet pilot, making attack decisions with CCA is not particularly difficult, but under the "human-machine collaboration" concept, the more unmanned aircraft there are, the heavier the pilot's workload becomes. Therefore, developing twin-seat fighter jets and assigning an operator to control the unmanned aircraft to alleviate the pilot's workload is a reasonable approach. (Translated by Liu Lin)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7524896239716975138/
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