Aircraft maintainers with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., have been restoring six retired early-model F-16s from desert storage for use as full-scale targets. They are regenerating both F-16As and F-16Cs in support of Boeing’s work in converting older F-16s into QF-16 target drones for the Air Force. So far, these maintainers have delivered three of the six F-16s to Boeing’s facility in Jacksonville, Fla. The fourth is scheduled to arrive there in early August, while work on the remaining two continues. Boeing will use these six airframes as prototypes for engineering tests and evaluation during the QF-16 program’s developmental phase. Overall, the company has been tasked to modify up to 126 retired F-16s into QF-16s, which, starting around 2014, will succeed the QF-4 as full-scale target drones used in weapons testing. (Davis-Monthan report by SSgt. Vanessa Young)
Air Force Changes Rules for Pregnant Aircrew—Again
April 3, 2025
The Air Force is changing its policy for pregnant aircrew, generally reverting to rules set in 2019 that barred female aviators from flying during the first trimester—or from flying in aircraft with ejection seats at all—due to potential risks to the pilot and her unborn fetus.