The Air Force and Boeing completed the first unmanned flight of a QF-16 full-scale aerial target, announced the company on Monday. Two Air Force test pilots in a ground control station remotely flew the QF-16 during the Sept. 19 test mission at Tyndall AFB, Fla., states the company’s Sept. 23 release. The mission profile included auto takeoff, a series of simulated maneuvers, supersonic flight, and an auto landing, according to the release. “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 of Tyndall’s 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron. Boeing is under contract to modify up to 126 retired, early model F-16s to the QF-16 standard for use as aerial targets in weapons testing and air-to-air combat training. They will succeed QF-4s in those roles. Boeing said it has produced six QF-16s so far. Last November, the first QF-16 destined for use in developmental testing arrived at Tyndall.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.