Advanced cockpit for tactical aircraft

The cockpit of any aircraft provides the man/machine interface by which the overall effectiveness of the system and aircraft combination may be accessed. One would assume therefore that this interface between the man and machine would be used to specify the control and functional attributes of the systems. This is often said to be the case in current aircraft. However, owing to inconsistences in system design, for example complex systems requiring little control and simple systems requiring extensive monitoring and control, many cockpits are criticised as cluttered and extremely difficult to operate. These initial problems are further compounded by improvements in aircraft equipments and changes in r¿¿le during an aircraft life, requiring further controls and displays to be installed, these being in far from optimum locations owing to structural and other physical constraints. The paper illustrates how the progressive development of systems and changes in requirements over the last 20 years have affected the cockpit of one family of aircraft: the Harrier. The paper then describes those mature technologies and those which are likely to mature within the gestation period of the next fighter aircraft (approximately 10 years) and which may be used to radically redesign the cockpit while meeting the pilot´s basic need to remain in overall control of the aircraft and its system. Finally, one of a number of cockpit designs presently being investigated, which integrates most of these technologies into an easily workable cockpit design, is described.