The fighter-jet cockpit is one of the ultimate expressions of engineering complexity. Baffling to anyone other than pilots and aerospace engineers, the rows of displays and controls condense vital information to enable safe operation of the aircraft – and mission completion. The cockpit of the future will be decidedly more minimalist. Projects such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 have already streamlined controls, introducing large customisable touchscreens, but upcoming fighters will take the approach even further.
The British-led Tempest project, for example, will replace most of the aircraft’s physical controls with augmented-reality and virtual-reality (AR and VR) systems projected directly inside the visor of a pilot’s helmet. Known as the ‘wearable cockpit’, the technology is in development at BAE Systems. Developers hope the system, designed to provide pilots and ground operators with split-second advantage, will also provide ‘instant’ configurability before missions....MORE
