I'm not sure what the future holds. The engineers tell us that when PLM is fully implemented, it will be able to account for engine failure and other degraded modes.....their line is that if there is something bad enough where you can't use it, the jet is already probably going to crash anyway. No idea how true that is, and I think we all know claims like that in the past in aerospace have been found to be false at times. Right now, there is still a requirement for manual approach currency, but it is pretty minimal.
Hornet and Super Hornet both have the ability to fly a "coupled" approach using the traditional autopilot, auto throttles. It uses a datalink of sorts with the carrier, where they actually "lock" your aircraft, and then the system sends commands to the aircraft. You can use it uncoupled as simply another instrument reference and fly a manual pass, or you can "couple", and depending on if you requested a mode 1 or a mode 1A, you either click out of it and fly manually for the last couple hundred feet (i.e. DH), or you let it fly you into the wires. I've personally never used it, nor wanted to, though I know many who have. There are some definite limitations to the system (pitching deck, datalink failure or drop lock), so PLM is great because it is entirely self contained. Path still doesn't account properly for excessive deck movement, but rate will accomplish something similar to how one would already fly such an approach.
