11–20 of 58 posts
Sort of puts our defense spending and progress in perspective when the USAF takes a $21M 4th gen fighter - when most of the world's air forces still have 4th gen fighters in development , mind you - and basically uses it like the cheap clay target shooting skeet you can buy at Walmart.
I kind of understand why they want to develop the capability, but also am dubious of its value for a plane designed around a human pilot. So, if the plane is going to do anything useful, it needs to get to its target intact and ready, and to be honest that's more about logistics and geography than human or not pilots. Maybe it can stay on-station longer but that sounds more like a duty roster benefit than a tactical…
Sort of puts our defense spending and progress in perspective when the USAF takes a $21M 4th gen fighter - when most of the world's air forces still have 4th gen fighters in development , mind you - and basically uses it like the cheap clay target shooting skeet you can buy at Walmart.
As I understand it most of these airframes aren't fit to fly with a crew anymore because they've aged out. Airframes that don't get into this program get scrapped.
Once your aircraft gets to the point it will start to fail, why not use it as a few as a target?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting...
PS- I'd be worried about these being controlled by an AI or hacked. MQ-9's are small and go 300 MPH, so, while they're deadly, I wasn't worried about them as much. F-16's can go 1,350 MPH and can be "well-armed".
USAF just bought 30 more QF-16's bring the fleet to 106. Then "Air Force leaders are expected to buy a total of 120 QF-16 target drones through 2019. Optionally Air Force leaders are considering buying a total of 210 QF-16 through 2022. The fleet should last until 2025."
http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2016/03/qf-16-targ...
Note that QF-16's, not F-16's, are the unmanned/drone version of the F-16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-16_Fighting... PS- I'd be worried about these being controlled by an AI or hacked. MQ-9's are small and go 300 MPH, so, while they're deadly, I wasn't worried about them as much. F-16's can go 1,350 MPH and can be "well-armed". USAF…
I kind of understand why they want to develop the capability, but also am dubious of its value for a plane designed around a human pilot. So, if the plane is going to do anything useful, it needs to get to its target intact and ready, and to be honest that's more about logistics and geography than human or not pilots. Maybe it can stay on-station longer but that sounds more like a duty roster benefit than a tactical…
Sort of puts our defense spending and progress in perspective when the USAF takes a $21M 4th gen fighter - when most of the world's air forces still have 4th gen fighters in development , mind you - and basically uses it like the cheap clay target shooting skeet you can buy at Walmart.
"Initial operating capability or Initial operational capability (IOC) is the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The term is often used in government or military procurement." Military MVP? [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_operating_capability
This is nothing new. The USAF has had unmanned F-4 phantoms for decades that are used for target practice and live fire weapons testing. The F-4 fleet is being replaced with surplus F-16s.
I thought the aside in the article about unmanned "missile trucks" controlled by a latest gen manned fighter was interesting.
