In the movie *Top Gun* we see pilot Maverick with his offsider Goose.
The F-14 clearly needs a second man; but the A-4 does not, nor does the ~~Mig-28~~ *F-5E.*
The F-15 and F-18 comes in both one and two man variants, but I don’t think I’ve seen a two man F-16.
Modern MiG’s and Sukhoi’s seem to be one man fighters.
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In Jets that usually have 2 officers, the 2nd officer does things so that the pilot can focus on piloting: keep track of targets, adjust weapon loadouts, operate the radio, etc. Remember that the number one cause of plane crashes is pilot error.
We no longer see many fighter jets with 2 officers because we now have more capable computers that can do all that. When a jet does come in a 2 officer variant it is most likely a trainer.
Goose was the weapons systems officer (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_systems_officer). Some aircraft don’t require an additional officer to manage the weapons either because they are not intended for the same high-intensity dogfighting that requires all of the pilot’s attention or because the avionics are more advanced and support the single pilot better.
And more importantly, Goose was a damn good man.
The aft seat in a Tomcat is for the Radar Intercept Officer. They’re responsible for communications such as satellite linkage etc., and jamming enemy radar as well as operating their own radar. They may also handle the weapons systems.
Offloading some of these duties to a second person allows the pilot to put more focus into what they’re doing. It is also helpful to have a second pair of eyes to establish and maintain visual on an enemy craft.
A lot of modern craft that have tandem seats also have multi-function displays that allow cockpit customization, and each crew member can optimize what displays they have to play to their individual strengths.
“Goose” is a Radar Intercept Officer, RIO. the thing about the Tomcat, and older aircraft like the F-4, was that the radar was so complex that a second crewmember was needed so that the pilot could concentrate on flying the aircraft. so basically, a RIO was for operating the radar and other systems the Tomcat used to detect enemy aircraft and give the pilot the information he needed.
there´s much more behind that, but this covers the basics. nowadays, many of the stuff that needed to be handled manually is now done automatically which is why you see two-seat fighter aircraft only when they do challenging stuff like air-to-ground operations (F-15E) or something like that. otherwise, trainer versions of said fighters like an F-16B or F/A-18B are also twin seat
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> Modern MiG’s and Sukhoi’s seem to be one man fighters.
Seems like the bulk of your question has been answered, so I’m going to address this part. Modern fighters have sufficiently advanced electronics to automate tasks that used to require a second crew member. That’s why the newest, most advanced US fighters (F-22 and F-35) are purely single-seaters.
>The F-15 and F-18 comes in both one and two man variants, but I don’t think I’ve seen a two man F-16.
There actually are two-man F-16 variants as well!
The two-man versions of these fighters specialize in attacking targets on the ground; those missions are more complex than those focused on shooting down enemy aircraft. They’re also useful for training.
But, as I mentioned above, avionics have advanced tremendously since the teen series fighters were designed and the F35 is designed to perform those complex ground-attack missions with only one crew member.
You just made me think abt how fucked it must be to take all those high G turns when you’re not the one controlling the direction of the craft. Because you don’t know what the pilot will do, you cannot anticipate the next turn. Must be like riding a rollercoaster blind.
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