One of the hardest problems in training jet fighter pilots is providing suitable targets for air-to-air gunnery practice. Towed sleeve targets are poor opposition. They are too slow to simulate enemy bombers or fighters, and they cannot be maneuvered. A pilot trained for such sitting ducks is likely to get a shock if he comes against enemy pilots in jet planes like his own.
This summer the Air Force will evaluate a new jet target, the Ryan Firebee, which it hopes will help solve the problem. The Firebee is an ugly little pilotless airplane, built like a potbellied bug with swept-back wings....
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