April 21, 2015 at 11:45 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBo6iWqLqwo
was just wondering, could the QF-16 variation be used in combat as a UCAV? and if so how would it perform?
at the very least you could load it up with missiles and fly as a scout ahead of manned (controller) aircraft, shooting missiles at the enemy, possibly HARM missiles. with a controller aircraft flying behind it, using data link to receive all information the forward flying UCAV gets, it can then control the QF-16 directly. more so because for missions like BVR and Wild Weasel you won’t see your targets visually anyway
if it gets engaged, it could use the F-16’s performance, combined with no pilot to suffer G forces, to perform automated, neck breaking dodging manoeuvres. if anything better than a human pilot, because if a computer knows where it is and where the incoming missile is, it has better spatial awareness and reflexes than a human pilot