First retired F-16 Falcon arrives at Boeing facility
The fighter aircraft of the US Air Force will be converted into a QF-16 aerial drone by the Boeing and BAE team.
Caption: The F-16 Falcon arrived at the Boeing facility in Jacksonville on April 22. A Boeing photo
JACKSONVILLE (BNS): The US Air Force's first retired F-16 Falcon fighter aircraft has arrived at the Boeing facility here for conversion into a QF-16 aerial drone.
The aircraft arrived at the Boeing facility on April 22, the company said.
Boeing had received a contract worth around $70 million from the USAF in March this year for the first phase of the QF-16 drone programme.
The Boeing team, which will include the BAE Systems, will be responsible for the initial engineering, manufacturing and development of QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Targets in the first phase.
The team will initially receive six F-16 Falcons from the USAF. After modification to the QF-16 configuration, the fighters will serve as prototypes for engineering tests and evaluation prior to low-rate initial production, Boeing said.
Up to 126 QF-16 drones will be converted beginning in 2014, the company said.
The new drones, which will replace the USAF's QF-4 fleet of drones, will be used as aerial targets for newly developed weapons and tactics. They will be flown either manned or unmanned.
The aircraft arrived at the Boeing facility on April 22, the company said.
Boeing had received a contract worth around $70 million from the USAF in March this year for the first phase of the QF-16 drone programme.
The Boeing team, which will include the BAE Systems, will be responsible for the initial engineering, manufacturing and development of QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Targets in the first phase.
The team will initially receive six F-16 Falcons from the USAF. After modification to the QF-16 configuration, the fighters will serve as prototypes for engineering tests and evaluation prior to low-rate initial production, Boeing said.
Up to 126 QF-16 drones will be converted beginning in 2014, the company said.
The new drones, which will replace the USAF's QF-4 fleet of drones, will be used as aerial targets for newly developed weapons and tactics. They will be flown either manned or unmanned.
