An unmanned QF-4 full-scale aerial target drone launched an air-to-ground missile earlier this month during a first-of-its-kind test with an FSAT. Airmen of Det. 1 of the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron at Holloman AFB, N.M., conducted the test, operating the QF-4 by remote control from a ground station, proving the capability to “test forward firing ordnance without risk to valuable air assets or crew members,” said Lt. Col. Joel Rush, Det. 1 commander. (49th Fighter Wing report by A1C Rachel Kocin)
With the Air Force in the midst of its biggest testing boom in decades, the Maintenance Operational Test (MxOT) Division at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is making sure those tests include an often-overlooked perspective: that of maintainers.