Re: New Generation Fighter
Like someone else said, I don't think anything's impossible. Let's think outside the box a little bit, what about a free-rotating virtual cockpit? The pilot would sit in a compartment which rotates as the plane accelerates in different directions so that the pilot is always facing the direction of acceleration. That way, blood will ALWAYS be pulled to the back of his head, kind of like astronauts in a space shuttle. Since he will always face the direction of acceleration rather than the front of the plane as one would now, keep screens all around him for ~360 degree view.
The problem with that is that they'll always require a datalink, and all datalink can be hacked one way or another, using espionage if needed. Your assets might be disabled by the push of a button, or they may even be turned against you. One security leak can mean the end of everything, very risky.
ff The problem with Gs that pull you down into the seat is that they also force the blood out of the brain into the legs. With Anti-G-Straining-Maneuvers and G protection suites pilots in todays fighters can withstand 9G for about 30s. At least I think that's what the training profiles in centrifuges go up to. But that is also really physicly exhausting.
On the F-16 the seat is tilted back for example, so it's not 100% head-to-feat Gs, but more transverse Gs, wich are far less worth.
At some point there is a limit to what technology can do, however.
Like someone else said, I don't think anything's impossible. Let's think outside the box a little bit, what about a free-rotating virtual cockpit? The pilot would sit in a compartment which rotates as the plane accelerates in different directions so that the pilot is always facing the direction of acceleration. That way, blood will ALWAYS be pulled to the back of his head, kind of like astronauts in a space shuttle. Since he will always face the direction of acceleration rather than the front of the plane as one would now, keep screens all around him for ~360 degree view.
Personally I think the G-limitation problem could be overcome, without fancy "inertial dampening devices", with this:
Unmanned Combat Vehicles.
I believe that future jet fighters will no longer be limited by a human pilot. Just think about how much training goes into a human pilot and how simple it is for a trained technician to control a glorified "RC Plane". Perhaps the absence of a pilot will mark the boundary between 5th and 6th generation fighter planes
The problem with that is that they'll always require a datalink, and all datalink can be hacked one way or another, using espionage if needed. Your assets might be disabled by the push of a button, or they may even be turned against you. One security leak can mean the end of everything, very risky.
