Also called: Target Control Operator, Aerial Target Pilot
Flies the jet-powered target drones that fighter pilots and warships shoot at during missile tests.
Before dawn your team launches a small jet drone off a rail with a rocket booster. From a control van you fly it like an enemy cruise missile, low over the ocean, while a ship tests its defenses. If the missile misses, you recover the drone by parachute and get it ready to fly again.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 2 years after high school. Often former military drone or aircraft operators; some have aviation or engineering technology degrees.
Ways in: Military, On-the-job training, 2-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Aviation Technology, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Electronics Technology.
Growing faster than average. More missile defense and drone testing.
Medium risk for 10 years. Targets fly more of their own routes, but planning, safety and running live-fire tests stay human jobs.
Classes: Physics, Computer class, Electronics CTE, JROTC.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.