DCMA AIMO St Augustine personnel celebrated the delivery of the final QF-16 Zombie Viper FSAT from Boeing at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida. Credit: Boeing/US Air Force.

Boeing has handed over the last QF-16 Zombie Viper full-scale aerial target (FSAT) to the US Air Force’s (USAF) 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron (ATS).

The 82nd ATS is based at Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) in Panama City, Florida.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

The latest announcement was made by the US Defense Contract Management Agency’s (DCMA) Aircraft Integrated Maintenance Operations (AIMO) St. Augustine.

Delivery of this aircraft is part of a USAF contract awarded to Boeing in 2010. It involved conversion of retired F-16 aircraft into QF-16 FSAT.

Under this contract, Boeing regenerated F-16 from the storage at 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) in Tucson, Arizona and flown to Cecil Airport in Jacksonville for drone equipment installation.

The first aircraft was delivered in 2012, followed by the first uncrewed flight test in 2013.

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

Boeing has so far delivered more than 75 modified aircraft.

After being modified, the FSAT can now be flown by a pilot, as well as remotely by a group of ground operators and technicians.

DCMA AIMO St Augustine quality assurance specialist Michael Jackson said: “We worked daily, directly on hangar floor, and hand-in-hand with the contractor, to resolve a variety of production issues.

“Our DCMA team worked diligently to overcome all obstacles, alleviating production delays, and delivering remaining aircraft on schedule and under budget.”

The QF-16 is a reusable, optionally piloted FSAT system designed to carry out a variety of missions including air-to-air live fire training, evaluation of weapons systems, auto take-off and landing, supersonic flight and ground-to-air live fire missile tests.

Each FSAT offers a lifespan of around 300 flight hours.

The QF-16 Zombie Viper FSAT has replaced the QF-4 Phantom drone fleet that retired in 2016.

Airforce Technology Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Airforce Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.


Excellence in Action
Discover how Virtualitics is transforming mission readiness with explainable AI, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision intelligence across the U.S. Department of Defense through its AI-powered Integrated Readiness Optimization suite, for which it has won the Innovation and Business Expansion awards.

Discover the Impact