The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to replace the co-pilot with a computer

The Ministry of Industry and Trade expects to replace the co-pilot in passenger and cargo aircraft with a virtual one and thereby reduce the cost of their operation. On August 9, the department posted a notice on a tender worth 2.9 billion rubles on the public procurement portal. for the development of such technology by the end of 2024. The paper states that the analysis of the latest scientific results in the field of the use of artificial intelligence in aviation allows us to make a reasonable forecast that already in the 2030s. it is possible to make the transition to single-crew on commercial aircraft (AC).

To switch to a single-member crew, it will be necessary to carry out a set of measures that will exclude an increase in the load on a single pilot, the document says. In particular, it is necessary to modernize the information and control field of the cockpit, develop the technical design of a “virtual co-pilot” and integrate an aircraft with this technology into the air traffic control system by “implementing advanced means of communication, navigation and surveillance, as well as ensuring the cybersecurity of on-board equipment” .