Boeing, USAF Complete First Unmanned QF-16 Flight | Aviation International News

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Boeing, USAF Complete First Unmanned QF-16 Flight

Boeing and the U.S. Air Force achieved the first flight of an unmanned QF-16 aerial target on September 19. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)

September 23, 2013

Boeing and the U.S. Air Force completed the first flight of an unmanned QF-16 aerial target from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., on September 19. Flown by two Air Force test pilots in a ground station, the modified Lockheed Martin F-16 reached an altitude of 40,000 feet and a speed of Mach 1.47. It performed aerial maneuvers including a barrel roll over the Gulf of Mexico while pulling more than 7Gs.

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