AMU Homeland Security Opinion

FSAT Upgrade: F-16 Becomes Drone

Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security

Tyndall Air Force Base, FL—Boeing’s QF-16 Team last month put together an unmanned F-16 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) to replace the QF-4 Phantom drone training jets. The upgrade allows training with an unmanned fourth generation aircraft comparable to what most other states use. The pilots are on the ground out of harm’s way and exercises can use live ammunition along with the fielding of fifth generation planes in use, like the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lightning. It is also another sign of a more secure fifth generation American air superiority when it can use another state’s best aircraft as scrap.

In March of 2010, Boeing received a multi-year contract and the option to buy and convert 127 F-16s into QF-16 drones by 2014. In 2012, the drones were test piloted with a human operator in cockpit. They are in-line to deliver six of them this October.

Just last month in September, the F-16 flew with an empty cockpit for the first time in its history. The F-16 Fighting Falcons were refitted as drones from retired aircraft that were restored. The next phase will be live fire exercises at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

One of the reasons that the conversion took so long was the fact the F-16s were continually upgraded and used for so long within the US. This meant that the McDonnell Douglas QF-4 Phantom II was the FSAT reusable drone of choice from 1996 to 2013. BAE Systems was also a key player in both the F-4 and the F-16 conversions.

The F-16 with successive upgrade variants is still in the active service with the US Air Force, the reserves and the Air National Guard units; even as they are now becoming drones or sold to other allied or approved countries overseas. Since the 1970s the F-16 has been one of the most maneuverable fighter jets ever created. It is being phased out with the F-35A; while Lockheed Martin spokesperson Ken Ross said they will continue production until 2017.

The FSAT program is operated by the US Air Force: “The 82nd ATRS is part of the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group, which falls under the 53rd Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla. The unit operates the Department of Defense’s only full-scale aerial target program, which provides Air Force, Navy, Marine and Army customers targets for developmental and operational tests.”

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