First F-16s in Place for Conversion to Aerial Targets

July 16, 2010

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Boeing announced Thursday that the first retired F-16s that the company will convert to QF-16 full-scale aerial targets for the Air Force have arrived at its facility in Jacksonville, Fla., for the modification work. “This is an important program for the Air Force and Boeing,” said Steve Waltman, Boeing’s director of aircraft sustainment and maintenance, at the arrival ceremony. The Air Force chose Boeing in March to convert up to 126 retired F-16s for use as the targets, with first deliveries in 2014. Waltman said Boeing is confident that the company will deliver the QF-16s “on budget and on time.”

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Trending Stories

Pentagon Doubling Down on Alternatives to GPS That Aren’t in Space

Space Operations Command Getting New Name, New Boss

GAO: ‘Action Needed’ to Solve F-35 Block 4 Issues

When Can Space Force Guardians Expect Their New Dress Uniforms?

Related Content

Trump Renames DOD the ‘Department of War,’ But Will it Stick?

Sept. 6, 2025
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Sept. 5 to rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a move that has heightened the ongoing debate over the White House’s legal authorities and the role of the military in the world and at home. 

Space Operations Command Getting New Name, New Boss

Sept. 5, 2025
The Space Force plans to rename Space Operations Command, one of its three field commands, to Combat Forces Command to emphasize its role in providing combat forces to different combatant commands. The change is not final but is expected to occur after the confirmation of a new commander, Maj. Gen.…

Rebuilding Arctic Defenses Will Be Key to Golden Dome: Report

Sept. 4, 2025
The U.S. homeland is vulnerable to air and missile attack across the Arctic because the network of ground, air, and space-based defenses guarding those approaches have atrophied over time, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. 

GAO: ‘Action Needed’ to Solve F-35 Block 4 Issues

Sept. 4, 2025
Even after reducing the scope of Block 4 F-35 upgrades, Lockheed Martin will still needs two years to develop and install planned improvements, the Government Accountability Office said in a new audit of the fighter program. Details about what upgrades will be carried into production, as well as a new…

Pentagon Doubling Down on Alternatives to GPS That Aren’t in Space

Sept. 4, 2025
The U.S. military is doubling down on non-space-based alternatives to GPS, the ubiquitous position, navigation, and timing service provided by the U.S. Space Force, with new funding for the development and testing of operational prototypes of quantum-based devices that don’t depend on easily jammable signals from satellites.