The Air Force issued Boeing an order for 25 converted QF-16 full-scale aerial target drones under a $28.5 million contract option, the Pentagon announced. The sum covers Lot 3 production on Boeing’s conversion line at Cecil Field, Fla., and a four-year coverage of drone-specific systems supplied by the company, according to DOD’s list of major contracts. The company delivered the first QF-16C under production Lot 1 to Tyndall AFB, Fla., March 11. Boeing is under contract to deliver an additional 13 of the converted F-16s under low rate initial production by early October. A further 23 FSAT conversions will be delivered as part of Lot 2 production through May 2016. Lot 3 production QF-16s will be delivered by the end of October 2017, according to DOD. Boeing is contracted to modify as many as 126 early-model F-16As and F-16Cs to replace the legacy QF-4 Phantom fleet.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…