(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
be inconvenienced by flight helmets and survival equipment.
have to rely on other qualities besides technical prowess.
be considered the most important element in air combat.
have to make split-second life or death decisions.
Gabarito:
have to rely on other qualities besides technical prowess.
a) Alternativa incorreta. Segundo o texto, isso é o que acontece hoje, não o que irá acontecer no futuro.
b) Alternativa correta. Já que os pilotos, segundo o texto, não estarão mais nas aeronaves, eles precisam desenvolver outras habilidades para além das técnicas de controle delas.
c) Alternativa incorreta. Na verdade, o texto indica que eles se tornarão obsoletos.
d) Alternativa incorreta. Isso se refere ao presente, não ao futuro.