Center's core mission remains constant during the years

  • Published
  • By Air Force Flight Test Center
  • History Office
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) --  By the time the Air Force Flight Test Center was established here on June 25, 1951, Edwards AFB had already become well known as the place where "the rubber meets the ramp" and the de facto center of American flight research, development, test and evaluation.

The turbojet revolution in America had been launched there with the first flight of the Bell XP-59A in October 1942. Flying the rocket-powered Bell X-1, Capt. Charles "Chuck" Yeager had become the first pilot to exceed the speed of sound there on Oct. 14, 1947. More than 40 different types of aircraft had first taken flight at the base and the nation's first generation of jet-powered aircraft had already completed development.

As the new Air Force Flight Test Center, or AFFTC, began operations, it had already had a solid foundation on which to build. Over the years since, its core mission has remained unchanged: to conduct and support flight research, development, test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat. It is the center's job to help ensure that, whenever the need arises, America's Airmen enter harm's way with the most effective and reliable combat systems in the world.

During the span of its history, AFFTC has played a key role in forging and helping to ensure the dominance of American airpower. It has tested and supported the development of virtually every aircraft system that has entered the U.S. Air Force inventory -- from the B-47 Stratojet and F-86 Sabre to the B-2 Spirit and F-22 Raptor -- and it has remained on the cutting edge of every major development that has transformed the field of flight. It has met the challenges posed by the turbojet revolution, the supersonic and hypersonic breakthroughs, the spaceflight revolution, the computer and sensor systems revolutions, the stealth revolution and, today, with systems such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial system and the YAL-1 Airborne Laser, it is working to harness the enormous potential of new system-of-systems and directed-energy technologies that promise to transform future combat operations.

Very early on when it was still undergoing advanced concept development testing, the Global Hawk demonstrated much of its potential when it was deployed to support operations in Afghanistan just after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In Afghanistan and Iraq, it provided battlefield commanders with unprecedented near real-time, high-resolution, all-weather intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. After completing a key series of systems tests, the Airborne Laser is currently undergoing preparation for the next major program milestone -- the firing of the system's high-powered chemical oxygen-iodine laser, or COIL, against an in-flight ballistic missile.

Recognized as the scene of more major milestones in flight than any other location in the world, Edwards AFB is located on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, approximately 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Sprawling out over approximately 301,000 acres (470 square miles), the base is the Air Force's second largest installation and sits at the hub of a network of southwestern U.S. military test and training ranges that extend eastward from the Pacific Ocean to the Utah Test and Training Range and the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. .

The most prominent natural feature on the landscape is the vast, flat, concrete-like expanse of Rogers Dry Lake which provides 44 square miles of useable landing area. Over the decades, the lake bed has not only served as the landing site for aerospace vehicles ranging from the X-1 to the Space Shuttle, it has also proven to be a welcome haven for countless aircrews in distress. Declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service because of its role in the development of the nation's space program, it is truly a unique and irreplaceable national asset.

AFFTC is a primary subordinate unit of Air Force Materiel Command. The 412th Test Wing and the 95th Air Base Wing are the two primary subordinate units. In addition to the Global Hawk and Airborne Laser, the center is currently engaged in ongoing tests to enhance and expand the capabilities of such major systems as the F-22, B-2, C-17 Globemaster III, B-1B Lancer, B-52 Stratofortress, F-16 Fighting Falcon, C-5 Galaxy, C-130J Hercules, and modernization of earlier model C-130 avionics.

The tri-service and multinational F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter looms as the next major program on the AFFTC horizon. In one of the largest and most complex development programs ever undertaken, initial tests of the Air Force's F-35A JSF variant recently commenced at the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, before delivery of the aircraft to Edwards AFB where it will undergo an extended developmental test and evaluation program.

Major tenant units on the base include the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Det. 5, U.S. Marine Aircraft Group 46 Det. B, and the Air Combat Command's 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron.

The total on-base workforce consists of 10,695 military, government civilian, non-appropriated fund civilian, and contractor personnel.