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cdsmith... you're talking about thrust vectoring. there are also several unmanned vehicles both in use and upcoming. from what i hear tho, there's no plan in completely removing 'the human element' from certain aircraft. they don't think that a computer could replicate a human under some circumstances.
the x35 is pretty sweet. almost all of the controls and electronics are displayed on (i believe there are 2) touch-screen displays. it removes almost all of the buttons from the cockpit.
the system also has a display in the pilot's helmet which displays everything the pilot sees. it's even built such that the pilot can see through the aircraft, providing essentially full 360deg vision. if the pilot looks at the floor, s/he sees what's under them as it were a window (but there isn't a window).
pretty crazy stuff. i guess it took a bit for the navy to adopt the plane tho, they don't much care for airplanes with one engine.
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