F-16 Scrambles to Shoot Down Drone, Nails it on First Attempt

Military technology is downright amazing, and we have some footage to prove it! With the rare opportunity to live-fire their missiles at actual targets, these pilots demonstrate the destructive capabilities and pinpoint accuracy of their weaponry.

With a few Banshee 600 drones buzzing about as targets, the F-16 opens fire against the unarmed craft, giving the pilots the rare opportunity to track, lock and fire upon a target without putting human lives in danger. The drones represent enemy aircraft well enough for the pilots to be able to track them on radar, move in for the shot, and take it. Once they pull the trigger, it’s up to the missile to do it’s job, and in this footage, they get it done with, if you’ll pardon the redundancy, military precision.

First up, the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. Upon locking onto the target, the missile is fired and seconds later makes a direct impact with the drone, ending the drone’s day in a spectacular fireball. Up next, the pilot triggers an AIM-9X Sidewinder, targeting a flare to test the missile’s homing ability, which it does with the same incredible accuracy as the AMRAAM. Finally, the pilot keys up the AIM-9L Sidewinder to focus on the last remaining target, another flare. Once again, the missile hits its mark, using the incredible technology on board to seek out the target and destroy it.

It is the duty of our military to protect our interests at home and abroad and we as a nation need to be sure to provide our soldiers with the best possible technology to carry out that mission and keep our enemies from bringing war to our shores. In order to do so, our men and women in uniform have to be able to carry out tests like this to test the technology at play, because no matter how many computer simulations you run, there is no replacement for real-world testing.