U.S. Navy pilots in training no longer have to complete a requirement previously considered integral for flight school success.
As of March 2025, students can qualify for graduation without landing a jet on an aircraft carrier, according to a Navy spokesperson who provided an emailed statement to the Navy Times. Pilots will instead complete carrier qualifications during follow-on training at the fleet replacement squadron they’re assigned to.
“The strategic decision of moving strike pipeline carrier qualifications from the training syllabus to their fleet replacement squadrons was driven by increased technological capabilities in the fleet,” the spokesperson said.
In 2016, the Navy rolled out new flight technology dizzyingly dubbed the “Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies” — mercifully abbreviated to MAGIC CARPET — that streamlines aircraft carrier landings by reducing the number of moving parts a pilot must deal with prior to touching down on a carrier.
Before MAGIC CARPET, pilots had to coordinate glide slope, angle of attack and line up before landing, according to a Navy release at the time of the technology’s release. But the technology separates, or decouples, the three areas of responsibility so that adjusting one doesn’t require the pilot to adjust the others as much as before.
While Navy student pilots currently fly the T-45 Goshawk — a training aircraft that does not come equipped with MAGIC CARPET — there are plans underway to replace the aging jet.
The U.S. Navy launched the Undergraduate Jet Training System program in 2020, with the intention of finding the service’s next aircraft to train future pilots on, according to a Request for Information.
Students training to fly F/A-18s, F-35s and EA-18Gs are no longer required to land on a carriers before receiving their “Wings of Gold,” which are awarded to naval aviators after they’ve completed aviation training.
The Navy spokesperson said the requirement was also nixed to reduce training pipeline times and ensure fleets received qualified pilots faster.
However, students training to be future E-2 pilots, as well as international military students, are still required to complete carrier landing qualifications on a ship in the T-45 Goshawk before graduation.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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