The Firebee could be air-launched from a specially modified launch aircraft (Douglas A-26 Invader was first to be used for this purpose), or ground-launched with a single RATO booster.

[1] Following successful evaluation the target was ordered into production for the USAF as the Q-2A, powered by a Continental J69-T-19B turbojet engine with 1,060 pounds-force (4.7 kN) of thrust.

[2] The cancellation of the latter brought the drone program to an end as it was no longer needed for the Sparrow II missile that would have armed the Arrow.

[5] In the late 1950s, the USAF awarded Ryan a contract for a substantially improved "second generation" Firebee, the Model 124, originally with the designation Q-2C.

The U.S. Navy also adopted the BQM-34A, while the Army obtained a ground-launched version designated MQM-34D with longer wings and a heavier JATO booster.

Since most modern photographs of Firebees show the ventral fin, this may have been due to production changes or later refits (reference sources are unclear on this).

[6] During the 1970s the U.S. Army updated some of their MQM-34Ds for use as targets for FIM-92 Stinger man-portable SAMs, refitting these drones with a General Electric J85-GE-7 turbojet of 10.9 kN (2,500 lbf) thrust which were salvaged from old ADM-20 Quail decoys.

The modified MQM-34Ds featured a revised forward fuselage with a circular nose intake that gave them an appearance similar to that of a "stretched" first-generation Q-2A target, and were given the designation of MQM-34D Mod II.

Air Force and Navy Firebees have received further upgrades since that time, most refitted beginning in 1989 with the improved J85-GE-100 engine (also with 2,450 lbf (10.9 kN) thrust) as well as modernized avionics.

It is also equipped with scoring and countermeasures systems, radar enhancement devices to allow it to emulate a wide range of combat aircraft, and wingtip thermal flares which cause heat-seeking missiles to aim for wing tips rather than the engine exhaust, sparing the target.

It was powered by a Teledyne CAE J69-T-6 turbojet with 1,840 lbf (8.2 kN) thrust, with the intake on the belly forward of the wings and the exhaust under the tailfins.

Internal fuel capacity was small, but the target could be fitted with a conformal external tank that was dropped before boosting to supersonic speeds.

In the late 1990s Teledyne Ryan, using company funds, configured two Firebees with cameras and communications electronics to provide real-time intelligence for battlefield target acquisition and damage assessment.

These two UAVs, named Argus, were used in a USAF "Green Flag" exercise to relay images in real time from the test range in Nevada to stations in Florida.