Air Force asks Boeing to build uncrewed target drones based on F-16 jet fighters for advanced training
Summary points:
- Boeing will convert retired F-16s into QF-16 full-scale aerial target drones.
- QF-16s are replacing older QF-4 models, and offer enhanced realism for testing modern missile and electronic warfare (EW) systems.
- Boeing equips QF-16s with telemetry, flight termination, and missile scoring systems for realistic and recoverable weapons testing.
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Military avionics experts at the Boeing Co. will convert retired U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 jet fighters into sophisticated manned and uncrewed target drones under terms of an $10.2 million order announced earlier this month.
Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., are asking the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to handle the conversion of F-16 fighters into unmanned QF-16 full-scale aerial targets (FSATs).
This order involves adjustment to prior production of QF-16 aerial targets, and brings the total value of the contract to $318.7 million.
The Air Force has used converted jet fighters as target drones for decades, beginning in the 1960s when the Air Force converted 24 Lockheed F-104 Starfighter jets into target drones. This contract involves converting F-16 Block 25 and Block 30 manned aircraft to uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Converted jet fighters
Other U.S. jet fighters, including the F-100, F-102, F-106, and F-4, have become target drones. Air Force experts use converted jet fighters as target drones to test sophisticated missiles and electronic warfare systems.
Although some of these retired jet fighter target drones are destroyed during weapons tests, often the drones rely on onboard sensors to calculate the point of missile detonations to record "kills" without destroying the target aircraft.
The QF-16 target drones are replacing the Air Force's fleet of QF-4 target drones, which are converted from McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jet fighters, which were phased out of active service in the 1980s.
The newer QF-16s are bringing a new level of sophistication to U.S. supersonic target drone capability. The F-16 is a fourth-generation fighter, and brings new challenges for weapons testing over the third-generation F-4.
Altering jets to fly unmanned
Boeing started converting F-16s into the first QF-16 drones in 2010. Company experts strip down retired F-16 fighters to remove unnecessary parts like the jet's 20-millimeter cannon and APG-66/68 radar. Boeing alters the aircraft to fly unmanned or with human pilots.
Boeing also installs a flight termination system that can destroy the drone if it goes out of control, command telemetry systems so operators can control the drone can be controlled from the ground, a scoring system to gauge the accuracy of air-to-air missiles fired at the drone, as well as avionics packages to enable these plans to fly uncrewed.
Air Force leaders are expected to buy a total of 210 QF-16s. The first manned QF-16 flight was in May 2012, and the plane's first unmanned flight was in September 2013. On this order, Boeing will do the work in Jacksonville, Fla., and should be finished by December 2026.
For more information contact Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at www.boeing.com/company/about-bds, or the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at www.aflcmc.af.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
