The key concepts that are set to define the UK Royal Air Force's next-generation combat air system have been revealed by Team Tempest, the industrial consortium working on its development.
Team Tempest
Tempest. Photo: RAF
Such features include a "wearable cockpit" with aircraft controls that are projected via Augmented and Virtual Reality.
The BAE Systems-designed concept replaces physical controls with AR & VR displays inside the visor of the pilot's helmet that can be configured for each mission.
Also being developed is a concept known as human-autonomy teaming, whereby 'virtual co-pilots' could take over some of a pilot's responsibilities. Still under development, the "co-pilot" could even be in the form of an 'avatar that is built into the cockpit.
Suzy Broadbent, Human Factors Manager at BAE Systems Air - one of the companies working on the project - said that the wearable cockpit was representative of the coming together of an entirely new ecosystem in its own right.
“Sat behind the cockpit human-machine interface is a host of support technologies which are increasingly focussed on the role of autonomy and Artificial Intelligence – teaming humans with machines to make the pilot or operator’s job easier and helping them make critical split second decisions,” she said.
She added that this included the development of virtual assistants which can determine when the pilot has become overloaded and then what and when the aircraft can take on some of the workload to allow its human operator to focus on core tasks.
“Some of our work within that is focussed on how that virtual assistant will work – is it an avatar in the cockpit with the pilot? Is it a social-media type feed which presents relevant information? How do you make the communication between operator and virtual assistant as smooth as current communications between pilot and navigator for example? How do you build that trust?”
Broadbent also said that the concept under development was for a multi-modal cockpit which features a number of ways the crew can interact with the system - through retinal tracking, voice, gestures or via the more familiar HOTAS (Hands-On Throttle And Stick) controls.
“The aircrew can select from the new technologies we are providing as to their preferred way of carrying out the task,” she said. “This customisability is a key component of the future cockpit.”
Behind the technological concept is Team Tempest, a defence and tech partnership comprising of BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, MBDA and the RAF, as well as some academic institutions, several SMEs and high-tech firms in the UK.
One of the Human Factors engineers from missile developer MDBA has been embedded within the wearable cockpit team to ensure the early introduction of weapons systems concepts that can utilise these future technologies.
Engineers from Rolls-Roye has been working on an advanced combustion system as part of the company's propulsion and power work.
The ‘Multi-Function Radio Frequency System’ - a radar and sensor technology currently under development from Leonardo - is set to deliver as much as 10,000 times more data than existing systems by the time Tempest goes into service. According to the manufacturer, that amount of data equates to the internet traffic of a large city such as Edinburgh every second. This tech would enable the aircraft to locate and set its targets on potential enemies much earlier than being targeted itself.
he new sensor, called the ‘Multi-Function Radio Frequency System’, will collect and process unprecedented amounts of data on the battlespace – equivalent to the internet traffic of a large city such as Edinburgh, every second.
Tempest is set to replace the Typhoon sometime in the mid-2030s and is part of a wider combat air system that makes use of new technologies and they develop to respond to ever more complex, high-tech threats.
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