Tiger Check: Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950-1980

How did American fighter pilots respond to the challenges posed by increasing automation?

Spurred by their commanders during the Korean War to be “tigers,” aggressive and tenacious American fighter pilots charged headlong into packs of fireball-spewing enemy MiGs, relying on their keen eyesight, piloting finesse, and steady trigger fingers to achieve victory. But by the 1980s, American fighter pilots vanquished their foes by focusing on a four-inch-square cockpit display, manipulating electr...