Less than three months after the last F-4 phantom II departed from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group for drone conversion, maintainers listed here are already turning the wrenches on Air Combat Command’s fourth generation of aerial targets, the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
With AMARG’s entire F-16 regeneration team gathered to document the development on July 1, Col. Robert Lepper, AMARG Commander, took the chance to congratulate workers for being ready and ready to transition so quickly from the F-4 to the F-16.
“Each and each one in all you is significantly contributing to the longer term success of our fifth generation fighters,” Colonel Lepper said. “By preparing and delivering these modern, more agile F-16s, they’re providing a more realistic training environment for our warfighters.”
The first aircraft officially inducted into the total-scale aerial target regeneration program this is the F-16C, serial no. 85-1455 it’s also the 1st aircraft to occupy space in
“Hangar One” since process improvement and time-saving modifications were completed within the building.
Anticipating the QF-16 program’s requirement for AMARG to regenerate and deliver 210 F-16s on time, the newly painted hangar floors would be marked and tailored for 5 of the smaller (maximum capacity) jets versus four of the 1960-era Phantoms. AMARG may have the capacity to supply 22 F-16s per year.
According to Rob McNichol, the F-16 regeneration program’s supervisor assigned to the 576th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Squadron, the hangar’s added mezzanine is for the storage of parts so that you can be far from the aircraft during maintenance.
“The aircraft will undergo an intensive maintenance program to make certain flight safety,” McNichol said. “Panels and avionic boxes may be removed, and the extra area off the upkeep floor will let us store the parts for speedy and straightforward access.”
The F-16s destined for the drone program had been in storage from three to twelve years they’ll complete all time compliance technical orders required for test flights during maintenance activities.
It is slated to take approximately six months, or 180 calendar days, to provide an F-16 for delivery to Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Fla., where Boeing will install the QF-16 drone modification package.
Boeing was awarded the QF-16 full-scale aerial target engineering, manufacturing and development contract in 2010 and delivered their first QF-16 to the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group for testing at Tyndall AFB, Fla., in November.
The F-16 regeneration program is expected to continue at AMARG through fiscal year 2021.
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