F-16 Flown at 40K without a pilot

[vc10man 732]

Read this incredible story of a laid-up F-16

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24231077

[jeroen79 0]

The story is quite credible.

Fighters have been converted to targetdrones before and now it is the F-16's turn.

[vc10man 732]

Fighter of the calibre of an F-16? Really? 

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

The technology is that much better now that these guys are capable of piloting an F16 by remote with a high tech setup that would make any Flight Simmer drool at.

 

Also since it is pilot less they can put that F16 into high G Maneuvers that wouldn't be possible with a pilot on board. That makes an excellent training target to go after.

 

Drones in the past never had this sort of capabilities.

[KSATRoadWarrior 91]

Wow, another step forward with technolog.......................

[KevinAu 441]

Fighter of the calibre of an F-16? Really?

They are out of suitable F-4s for conversion. And these F-16s are probably almost thirty years old already.

[Guest]

Just another reason to believe that we flight simmers are tomorrow flighter pilots.

That's why LM will allow all of us to us P3D V2, We will be bombing the enemy from our basements. :lol:

[E6BAV8R 88]

Yeah.. they've been doing this with F-4s for a rather long time now.  Turning them into drones allows them to still serve a good purpose rather than rotting away in a salvage yard.

 

Kinda makes you wonder why they don't deploy this kind of technology to remote war areas for further tests and validation of the technology.

 

I particularly like this video.  Not only is an F-4 drone being shot down but it shows how strong those airplanes are built - the F-4 gets hit with a missile, starts tumbling and the aircraft is still able to stay intact.

 

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

 

 

Yeah.. they've been doing this with F-4s for a rather long time now.  Turning them into drones allows them to still serve a good purpose rather than rotting away in a salvage yard.

 

The difference is you will not only get better performance out of an F16, These drones are also technologically superior to previous drones.

 

What I would like to see is a human pilot go against a drone F16 in a dogfight were the F16 is not limited to G-forces. This is an area to learn for in the future as the pilot is the real limitation in a dogfight because of G-Forces. An unmanned aircraft can also do better to out maneuver an in-coming missile.

 

So the real test is having an F16 UAV attack a manned F35 and have it evade a missile attack and engage in a dogfight were it can outperform a pilot due to greater G-force turns. An F35 has some advantages but the F16 not being limited to G-Forces would have another type of advantage.

 

Would be awesome

[z06z33 763]

The difference is you will not only get better performance out of an F16, These drones are also technologically superior to previous drones.

 

What I would like to see is a human pilot go against a drone F16 in a dogfight were the F16 is not limited to G-forces. This is an area to learn for in the future as the pilot is the real limitation in a dogfight because of G-Forces. An unmanned aircraft can also do better to out maneuver an in-coming missile.

 

So the real test is having an F16 UAV attack a manned F35 and have it evade a missile attack and engage in a dogfight were it can outperform a pilot due to greater G-force turns. An F35 has some advantages but the F16 not being limited to G-Forces would have another type of advantage.

 

Would be awesome

You also have to consider that a some point the aircraft's stucture will no longer take the G load. I've heard of a Mig-25 pulling 11Gs and being deformed to the point of being not flyable ever again.

[Kattz 132]

The Viper is limited to 9G whether there is a pilot or not. The FLCS will not allow the airframe to overgee because of the risk of damage.

 

The F-35 is a 9G aircraft as reported, but time will tell. With external stores it is automatically limited to 7.5Gs, while the Viper is limited to 7.7G's IIRC.

 

Personally, I think the F-35 will turn out to be a collossal waste of taxpayer money and expensive junk. The Block 60 Viper is superior to the F-35 in many aspects, but the USAF didn't buy any. Israel did, tho'.

 

Kattz

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

 

 

The Viper is limited to 9G whether there is a pilot or not. The FLCS will not allow the airframe to overgee because of the risk of damage.

The F-35 is a 9G aircraft as reported, but time will tell. With external stores it is automatically limited to 7.5Gs, while the Viper is limited to 7.7G's IIRC.

 

So both are 9G aircraft but the difference would be the pilotless can sustain for longer and go into 9G far more often.

 

I believe the future in aviation will be more UAV and using old F16's as UAV's is a great test platform for this as it is cost effective.

 

 

 

Personally, I think the F-35 will turn out to be a collossal waste of taxpayer money and expensive junk.

 

100% agreed.

[ViperPilot 81]

Here's the vid:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Je4w-XkVU

 

 

 

[japascoe 98]

So both are 9G aircraft but the difference would be the pilotless can sustain for longer and go into 9G far more often.

 

I believe the future in aviation will be more UAV and using old F16's as UAV's is a great test platform for this as it is cost effective.

 

 

100% agreed.

The most important difference though is that the piloted F16 actually has functioning targeting systems, including a pair of swivel mounted Mk I eyeballs, whereas the drone version most likely only has the bare minimum of sensors required for basic navigation.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

The most important difference though is that the piloted F16 actually has functioning targeting systems, including a pair of swivel mounted Mk I eyeballs, whereas the drone version most likely only has the bare minimum of sensors required for basic navigation.

From what I have read this is hardly a 'drone' but more of a high tech UAV on an F16 airframe with a lot more technology put into it compared to the 'drones' in the past. They have a far better setup then seen before.

 

See it as you may but get your head out of calling it a 'drone'

 

I see it as an innovative cost effective UAV with tremendous potential and would really like to see it go up against an F35 with a pilot on board.....sort of like Watson on Jeopardy.

 

I would put my money on the UAV F16 just as I put my money on 'Watson'

 

If you can't see that then keep calling it a 'Drone'