Yep you read that correctly! Airbus has a patent now for a windowless cockpit. The argument for something that sounds completely insane is the pilot in such an aircraft will have increased situational awareness as well as a much wider portion of the sky. The pilot can pan and zoom as needed, and even provide dynamic 3D viewing as well as range-finding.
Another necessity is having pilots in the front of the plane so that they can look out, but with a cockpit without windows, the pilots control center can be installed anywhere in the plane. Without the need for the windows, the planes can be made much more efficient and structurally sound.
Being able to install the cockpit anywhere in the plane leads to the next logical step will be to remove a pilots cockpit all together making the jet a drone controlled remotely.
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