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WATCH: First Pilotless F-16 Fighter Jet

Boeing says it completed a successful test flight of an F-16 fighter retrofitted as a drone last week, the first-ever such pilotless mission.

The original F-16 was built by Lockheed. Boeing modified the aircraft, dubbed the QF-16, so that a pair of ground-based pilots could control it. The test flight took off from Florida and went over the Gulf of Mexico.

Boeing thinks such aircraft could be used to spar with fighter jocks during training maneuvers, a la Top Gun.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Scott Neuman is a reporter and editor, working mainly on breaking news for NPR's digital and radio platforms.