New American sixth-generation bomber B-21 Raider may have just one pilot by default at least that's the recommendation recently issued by the U.S. Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).
Overall the bomber's crew will consist of two people, but instead of a second pilot the crew would include a weapon systems officer (WSO, or wizzo).
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On one hand this makes sense given that the bomber was ultimately designed with a high degree of automation; having only one pilot may also hint at work toward near-full autonomy for the aircraft, which has been reported earlier in the press.
Still, a single-pilot crew also carries safety risks, as noted by the publication TWZ.
It's important to stress that the one-pilot plus weapon-systems-officer crew is only a recommendation for now; no final decision has been made the U.S. Air Force has not commented on the matter.
As the outlet points out, these recommendations again confirm that the B-21 will not be a purely classical bomber: it will feature broad networking capabilities, battle management, electronic warfare and reconnaissance systems, and even the ability to control unmanned platforms. In the U.S. there is even periodic discussion of stuffing the bomber with air-to-air missiles.
But safety during missions remains a live concern if the B-21 has only one pilot the aircraft only provides seats for two crew members.
On the other hand, the B-21's level of automation is indeed far higher than that of any other aircraft currently in U.S. service.
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