Description
Computer made/mounted on velcro 4.0 inch-100mm
AIR FORCE MATERIAL COMMAND
Headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, Air Force Materiel Command is a major command created on 1 Jul 1992. The command conducts research, development, test and evaluation, and provides acquisition management services and logistics support necessary to keep Air Force weapon systems ready for war.
AFMC delivers war-winning expeditionary capabilities to the warfighter through development and transition of technology, professional acquisition management, exacting test and evaluation, and world-class sustainment of all Air Force weapon systems. From creation to disposal, AFMC provides the workforce and infrastructure necessary to ensure the United States maintains the world’s most respected Air Force.
AFMC fulfills its mission of equipping the Air Force with cutting-edge weapon systems and technology through several unique centers which are responsible for the “cradle-to-grave” oversight for aircraft, electronic systems, missiles and munitions.
The AFMC headquarters is a major unit located at Wright-Patterson AFB. There are eight AFMC host bases: Arnold AFB, TN; Edwards AFB, CA; Eglin AFB, FL; Hanscom AFB, MA; Hill AFB, UT; Robins AFB, GA; Tinker AFB, OK; and Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. In addition, the command has tenant units operating on several non-AFMC bases.
Test and Evaluation
The Air Force Test Center located at Edwards AFB, CA conducts developmental and follow-on testing and evaluation of manned and unmanned aircraft and related avionics, flight-control, munitions, and weapon systems. It has flight-tested every aircraft in the Army Air Force’s and the Air Force’s inventory since World War II. AFTC also operates the Air Force Test Pilot School 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.
Arnold Engineering Development Complex, located at Arnold AFB, operates more than 68 aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, rocket and turbine engine test cells, environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges, sled tracks, centrifuges and other specialized units. AEDC operating locations include Ames Research Center, Mountain View and Edwards AFB, California; Peterson AFB, Colorado; Eglin AFB; the Federal Research Center at White Oak, Maryland; Holloman AFB, Kirtland AFB, and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; Wright-Patterson AFB, and Hill AFB. AEDC offers a suite of test capabilities to simulate speed, temperature, pressure and other parameters over a wide range to meet the needs of aerospace system developers. The facilities can simulate flight conditions from sea level to 300 miles and from subsonic velocities to Mach 20.
The 96th Test Wing, located at Eglin AFB, is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, command and control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command systems. The wing provides expert evaluation and validation of the performance of systems throughout the design, development, acquisition, and sustainment process to ensure the warfighter has technologically superior, reliable, maintainable, sustainable, and safe systems. The 96th Test Wing is the principal Air Force organization for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) developmental testing. The 96th TW performs developmental test and evaluation across the complete system life cycle for a wide variety of customers including Air Force Systems Program Offices, the Air Force Research Laboratory, logistics, and product centers; major commands; other DoD services and U.S. government agencies (Department of Transportation, NASA, etc.); foreign military sales; and private industry.
The 412th Test Wing, located at Edwards AFB, plans, conducts, analyzes and reports on all flight and ground testing of aircraft, weapons systems, software, and components as well as modeling and simulation for the Air Force. There are three core components for this mission: flying operations, maintenance, and engineering. Through a maintenance group of more than 2,000 people and an operations group of 3,000, the test wing maintains and flies an average of 90 aircraft with upwards of 30 different aircraft designs and performs more than 7,400 missions (more than 1,900 test missions) on an annual basis.
The USAF Test Pilot School (USAF TPS), located at Edwards AFB, 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 TPS is fundamental to the success of flight test and evaluation. Upon graduating from TPS, graduates have earned a Master of Science degree in Flight Test Engineering.