USAF has tested teaming F-16 with “unmanned” F-16

The U.S. Air Force recently flew a F-16 with another F-16 but the second jet was being flown by algorithms.

QF-16 target drone in flight in September 2013
By U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. J. Scott Wilcox (U.S. Air Force photo 130919-f-ZN655-35) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

There was a pilot on board the “unmanned” F-16 as a backup but both jets were able to keep in formation without input from the surrogate pilot.

The challenge was to see whether a manned fighter aircraft can be teamed with an unmanned aircraft.

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