Boeing / USAF QF-16 unmanned full-scale demonstration, 2013
Pilotless fighter-class jet · not a 777 and not 9M-MRO
Confirmed capability. A QF-16 flew unmanned, including supersonic flight and landing, as a full-scale aerial target. That kills the slogan ‘nothing that size could be flown remotely in 2014.’ It does not place a remote architecture on a commercial 777.
QF-16 is a converted F-16 flown as an unmanned target. First unmanned flight was 2013. The forensic board is right to put it in the comparative-technology column: remote/optionally piloted flight of a high-performance jet was operationally demonstrated before MH370. The correct next test is still the one on the remote-control board — hardware, datalink and modification records on 9M-MRO — not a general claim that remote flight was unimaginable.
Sources
- USAF / Boeing QF-16 first unmanned flight reporting, 2013
Related
Remote-control claims versus evidence gaps
Patent, QF-16, Teso FMS proof-of-concept · installation on 9M-MRO still open
Forensic evidence board — facts, capabilities, missing dossiers
Working chart of intersections · ten target records still outstanding
External / uninterruptible autopilot on 9M-MRO
Engineering precedent exists. Installation on this airframe is not established.
Boeing US7142971B2 — uninterruptible automatic control
Remote engagement · disconnected onboard controls