{"id":82956,"date":"2026-08-17T18:19:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/08\/17\/us-air-force-looks-to-acquire-target-drones-that-can-mimic-stealth-jets\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T18:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T18:39:44","slug":"us-air-force-looks-to-acquire-target-drones-that-can-mimic-stealth-jets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/08\/17\/us-air-force-looks-to-acquire-target-drones-that-can-mimic-stealth-jets\/","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force looks to acquire target drones that can mimic stealth jets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Air Force wants target drones that can mimic the performance of a variety of aircraft, from stealth fighters and heavy bombers to large and small drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The goal is to create a family of drones that can \u201crepresent the full range of airborne threats, spanning from inexpensive \u2018hobby drones\u2019 to the most advanced adversary fighter and large-scale aircraft,\u201d according to the Air Force\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/sam.gov\/workspace\/contract\/opp\/e5e3b2bb3aee4155ab5a5ab9fc5d4125\/view\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">Request for Information<\/a>, which has a deadline of Sept. 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, the Air Force desires next-generation target drones that are so inexpensive and easy to manufacture that they can be \u201ctreated as attritable or expendable when required.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As with drones and other new technologies, the Pentagon is turning to private industry for fresh ideas, \u201cincluding commercial, modified commercial, dual-use, and non-developmental solutions,\u201d the RFI said. \u201cThe government is particularly interested in non-traditional, commercially derived, or dual-use solutions that offer advantages in cost, scalability, and simplicity over legacy systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new target drones are expected to simulate a wide array of capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For fighters, the drones should have \u201csupersonic capabilities (up to and exceeding Mach 1.6 at 40,000 feet), high-agility\/high-G combat maneuvers, precise low-observable Radar Cross-section (RCS) profiles, multi-spectral Infrared (IR) signatures, active RF emissions, and integrated Electronic Attack (EA) capabilities,\u201d according to the RFI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To simulate C-130-sized multiengine aircraft, the focus is less on high performance and more on \u201cmatching the physical scale, slow subsonic flight envelopes, and propeller or turbofan propulsion characteristics of larger multi-engine aircraft. These platforms must prioritize representative physical volume, basic RF\/IR emissions, and realistic radar returns to verify missile seeker guidance, and warhead lethality against large-frame targets.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For even bigger aircraft, such as strategic bombers and AWACS planes, the key is \u201creplicating the massive physical dimensions, multi-spectral thermal signatures, and heavy-aircraft radar strategic threats.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To mimic big Group 5 unmanned aerial vehicles, the target drone should be capable of flying at 50,000 feet. For Group 3 and 4 UAVs, the targets should be capable of flying at Mach 0.5 to 0.8, and maneuver at 3 to 6 Gs. For small Group 1 and 2 drones, the targets should fly at speeds of less than 150 knots and be capable of drone-swarm operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remote-controlled target drones have been used for nearly a century, including Britain\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/nova\/spiesfly\/uavs_05.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">Queen Bee<\/a> \u2014 a converted Tiger Moth trainer \u2014 in the 1930s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More recently, the U.S. Air Force has relied since 2007 on the subsonic \u2014 and subscale \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.af.mil\/About-Us\/Fact-Sheets\/Display\/Article\/104562\/bqm-167a-air-force-subscale-aerial-target\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\">BQM-167A<\/a>. At 20 feet long and with a wingspan of 11 feet, it hardly resembles a 67-foot-long Chinese J-20 stealth fighter or a 108-foot-wide Chinese H6 bomber. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force also has the QF-16, a converted F-16 that can play the role of a full-sized target, such as a fourth-generation fighter. While a practical way to make use of retired jets, they aren\u2019t meant to simulate fifth-generation stealth fighters or large aircraft, nor are they cheap enough to be expended in quantity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Air Force wants to acquire target drones that can mimic the performance of a variety of aircraft, from stealth fighters to small UAVs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":121070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":49,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,12,49,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3415],"class_list":["post-82956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-techwatch","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HLANN6R4FNF6HC7V2K7ZNRRGBE","arc_canonical_url":"\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/08\/17\/us-air-force-looks-to-acquire-target-drones-that-can-mimic-stealth-jets\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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