412th Test Wing - Units

Units

• 412th Operations Group (412 OG)

There are eight flight test squadrons with as many as 20 aircraft assigned to each. The aircraft are grouped by mission

Global Power (fighters and bombers)

411th Flight Test Squadron: (F-22)

416th Flight Test Squadron: (F-16)

419th Flight Test Squadron: (B-52H, B-1, B-2)

445th Flight Test Squadron: (Initial Flight Test Operations, T-38)

461st Flight Test Squadron: (F-35 Joint Strike Fighter)

Global Reach (transport)

412th Flight Test Squadron: (C-135C Speckled Trout)

418th Flight Test Squadron: (C-130 and special operations variants; CV-22; KC-135 and special variants)

Global Vigilance (unmanned)

452d Flight Test Squadron: (RQ-4)

Flying units under the Operations Group are called flight test squadrons and the squadron commander also usually fulfills the role of Combined Test Force, or CTF, Director.

The CTF is an organizational construct that brings together the government developmental test and evaluation personnel (i.e., military personnel and government civilians and support contractors), the operational testers or representatives of the warfighters who will eventually employ the aerospace system in combat, and the contractors who develop and test the aerospace system.

Members of the CTF formulate the test program, develop the criteria for flight test missions, execute flight test missions, analyze data from the test flights and report on the results. The CTF military personnel, government civilians, and contractors all work together as a team. This concept enables a cheaper, faster, and more effective test program and produces a more effective aerospace system for the warfighter.

Risk is an accepted component of flight testing, but because of Edwards' benchmark flight test safety processes, the center maintains a stellar safety record. The AFTC's mission focuses on Developmental Test and Evaluation which is the process used to identify risks that need to be reduced or eliminated before fielding new systems. Once DT&E is accomplished, aircraft systems transition to Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, or IOT&E where the aircraft is evaluated for combat effectiveness and suitability for an intended mission.

• 412th Test Engineering Group (412 TENG)

773d Test Squadron

775th Test Squadron

812th Test Squadron

412th Hypersonic Flight Test Team

412th Range Squadron

• 412th Electronic Warfare Group (412 EWG)

771st Test Squadron

The 412th Engineering and the 412th Electronic Warfare Groups provide the central components in the conduct of the Test and Evaluation mission. They provide the tools, talent and equipment for the core disciplines of aircraft structures, propulsion, avionics and electronic warfare evaluation of the latest weapon system technologies. They are also host to the core facilities that enable flight and ground test with the Range Division, Benefield Anechoic Facility, Integrated Flight Avionics Systems Test Facility and the Air Force Electronic Warfare Evaluation Simulator.

• 412th Maintenance Group (412 MXG)

Through a maintenance group of over 2,000 people and an operations group of 3,000, the 412th Test Wing maintains and flies an average of 90 aircraft with upwards of 30 different aircraft designs and performs over 7,400 missions (over 1,900 test missions) on an annual basis.

• 412th Test Management Division (412 TMD)

Project Management Division

Resource Management Division

Special Projects Branch

Rounding out the test wing are the Project and Resource Management Divisions who provide the foundation for the successful program management of test missions.

• U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS)

The Test Pilot School, also part of the test wing, is where the Air Force's top pilots, navigators and engineers learn how to conduct flight tests and generate the data needed to carry out test missions. Human lives and millions of dollars depend upon how carefully a test mission is planned and flown. The comprehensive curriculum of Test Pilot School is fundamental to the success of flight test and evaluation.