Just another link in the chain! Retired fighters have been used for target drone duty for quite a while, but is note worthy that they are now up to F-16s! Must not be anything else left that is air worthy. There is a company at what is not called St. Louis Regional Airport (formerly Alton Civic Memorial Airport) in Bethalto, Illinois that had a long contract converting F-4 Phantoms and F-106s to target drone configuration. Bruce Shipp, and stunt guy here on the list, was part of the program during the F-106 days. The practice goes back a long way and remotely piloted full size aircraft go all the way back to World War Two. When Joseph Kennedy Jr. was killed in the war, he was flying a remote controlled bomber that was fully packed with high explosives, and was supposed to bail out at a certain point before the bomber and it's guide plane were to continue on to it's intended target. Some sort of malfunction caused the plane to explode while in route. I think this is a much better use for them than just plain scrapping them.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee