- Yes!!!
- No…
In real life, 2 seater aircrafts have some advantages and disadvantages compared to their single seat competitors.
The primary advantage 2 seater aircrafts have in real life is the workload separation between the pilot and RIO/WSO, as the pilot can focus on flying while the RIO/WSO can focus on the task of operating complex weapons and sensors accurately in high stress situations.
The primary disadvantage, particularly for aircrafts which only come in 2 seat variants such as the Tornado, F-4, or F-14, is that the jet is physically larger then its contemporaries.
Unfortunately, in WT, only the disadvantages of 2 seater aircrafts are modelled, with no regards for the advantages they posses, leading to them being larger targets, and therefore easier to hit and kill, particularly in close-in air to air engagements.
My suggestion is to allow 2 seater aircrafts a mouse designated radar lock, much like the HMD PD mode found on the MiG-29, but instead of the limited 10km range of the HMD PD, allowing this radar lock to extend to the max range of the radar.
HMD PD on MiG-29
This would allow gaijin to simulate the RIO/WSO working the radar to acquire locks while the pilot is in the process of flying the plane, and would be particularly useful in the current gameplay loop found in WT top tier air battles where much of the combat occurs below 20km, allowing 2 seater aircrafts the ability to acquire and lock targets easier and quicker than their single seat variants, particularly in high stress situations.
Do note, this is NOT a suggestion to give 2 seater aircrafts full HMD capabilities, such as slaving IR missiles to the mouse cursor, if they did not operate HMD’s. This is simply to give a unique advantage to 2 seater aircrafts to simulate the backseater doing his job instead of being a simple passenger with no function as they are currently modelled in WT, by utilizing a game mechanic that already exists.