Boeing might put a drone operator in the F-15EX’s back seat
FARNBOROUGH, UK—“Talk to me, Goose—about our robot wingmen,” Maverick might say, if he were flying the F-15EX fighter jet, and if Boeing can sync up with the Air Force’s plans for collaborative combat aircraft.
“As these missions become more and more complicated, going into the future, there’s probably a play to have some sort of role in the backseat, I think there’s a role in manned-unmanned teaming, loyal wingman-type stuff, where the mission gets very, very complicated,” Boeing test pilot Matt “Phat” Giese told reporters Tuesday at Farnborough.
The two-seater jet can be flown “really easily” with just one pilot, but new missions could require another set of eyeballs to manage “other things” in the formation, Giese said. The Air Force is in the process of buying new drones called collaborative combat aircraft to accompany fighter jets into combat.