..:: India Strategic ::. Military Aviation: Boeing QF-16 Aerial target completes 1st pilotless flight

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Editorial

Boeing QF-16 Aerial target completes 1st pilotless flight

Published: November 2013

NEW DELHI. Tess as well as greater synergy in Command and Control functions.” Tyndal Air Force Base, Florida. Boeing has another feather in its already full cap. The aircraft major and the US Air Force have completed the first unmanned QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target flight, demonstrating the next generation of combat training and testing. Boeing has modified six F-16s into the QF-16 configuration. Low-rate initial production is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter, with first production deliveries in 2015.

Two US Air Force test pilots in a ground control station remotely flew the QF-16, which is a retired F-16 jet modified to be an aerial target. The QF-16 mission profile included auto takeoff, a series of simulated maneuvers, supersonic flight, and an auto land, all without a pilot in the cockpit.

“It was a little different to see an F-16 take off without anyone in it, but it was a great flight all the way around,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Inman, Commander, 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron. “Now we have a mission capable, highly sustainable full scale aerial target to take us into the future.”

The US Navy, Army and Air Force will ultimately use QF-16s for weapons testing and other training.