Questão 2498015

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