(AFA - 2023)Directions: Read Text VI and answer qu

(AFA - 2023)

 

Directions: Read Text VI and answer questions 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 accordingly.

 

TEXT VI

	Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, caused
	something of a stir at the annual Air Force Association’s
	Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. During an
	informal ‘fireside chat’ with Lt. Gen. John Thompson of
5	Space Command on Friday, Musk told a room packed
	with fighter pilots that “the fighter jet era has passed”.
	Now, Musk is renowned for finding soundbites for the
	media to hook onto, and also of causing calculated
	disruption in his target audience, but even by his
10	standards this is a well-baited line. What makes this such
	a bold and controversial statement?
	The contemporary battlefield is far more networked,
	complex, congested and lethal – it’s those that adapt that
	will survive. Simply being ‘a good stick’ will rapidly no
15	longer cut it in the hostile skies of the future.
	Musk’s main thrust is, however, that the human in
	the cockpit is the limiting factor in air combat now, not the
	advantage.
	Firstly, humans are awkward for aircraft designers to
20	accommodate. In a modern fighter the pilot sits on an
	ejection seat for emergency escape, needs an oxygen
	supply and air-conditioning to function at extremes of
	temperature and altitude, and requires flight controls and
	instruments to fly and fight the machine. All of these add
25	a significant amount of weight and cost into the aircraft.
	Moreover, having a transparent canopy to permit the crew
	to see out does little to improve signature management1
	as radar cross section and the chances of reflected sun
	glint all increase. The human also adds more weight,
30	especially when encumbered with flight kit such as
	helmet, NVGs, g-suit and flight planning and survival
	equipment. Traditionally, pilots sit toward the front of the
	aircraft to afford them the best view for take-off and
	landing, as well as air combat. This has implications on
35	aerodynamics, stealth1 design and weight distribution
	factors. In short, it can make the designers life a lot
	simpler if the pilot/crew are not in the aircraft.

 

(Extracted from https://www.forbes.com/. Accessed on March 03, 2022.)

 

Vocabulary:

1. Signature management and stealth: both terms refer to technology that reduces the likelihood of personnel, aircrafts, missiles, etc. being detected.

 

 

In the future, pilots will