Boeing’s QF-16 Has Successful Autonomous Flight

Photo courtesy Boeing.

By Ashley Addington



U.S. Air Force pilots have a new, much more powerful opponent for their flight training: The service’s new unmanned F-16 fighter aircraft had its first successful autonomous flight this past week.



The new QF-16 replaces the venerable QF-4 aerial targets, which were based on the Vietnam-era F-4 Phantom. The new target aircraft flew a series of maneuvers, including reaching supersonic speed, in its first flight at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.



“It was a little different to see it without anyone in it, but it was a great flight all the way around,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Inman, commander of the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron, said in a press release.  “It’s a replication of current, real-world situations and aircraft platforms they can shoot as a target. Now we have a 9G capable, highly sustainable aerial target.”



The Air Force plans to use the QF-16s for live-fire testing at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. So far, Boeing has modified six F-16s into the unmanned configuration.