World War II The 412th Test Wing's origins can be traced to 29 November 1943 when the
412th Fighter Group was activated at
Muroc Army Air Field, California. Testing of the
Bell P-59 Airacomet jet fighter was being conducted at a site on the north shore of
Rogers Dry Lakebed, about six miles away from the training base at Muroc. The group remained a headquarters-only group until 11 March 1944 when the
445th Fighter Squadron was assigned to begin flying the Airacomet for operational testing. In June, the group moved to
Palmdale Army Air Field, California and was brought up to full strength in the summer, when the
29th and
31st Fighter Squadrons were assigned. Its original mission was to conduct tests and engage in experimental aircraft work as part of
IV Fighter Command. In November 1945, the group moved to
March Field, California, where the
39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron was attached to it to begin testing the P-80 as a reconnaissance aircraft. The group was inactivated on 3 July 1946 and its mission, personnel and jet aircraft were transferred to the
1st Fighter Group.
Air Defense Command On 18 August 1955 the
412th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was activated by
Air Defense Command (ADC) at
Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, where it assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the
527th Air Defense Group, which was simultaneously inactivated. This action was part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars. The 445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron moved from
Geiger Field, Washington and assumed the
Northrop F-89D Scorpions of the 527th's
87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, since Project Arrow also reunited fighter squadrons with their traditional group
headquarters. The mission of the group was the air defense of the Upper
Great Lakes region. In March 1956 the group's 445th Squadron became the first unit in ADC to convert to the F-89H, which could carry the
GAR-1 Falcon in addition to Mighty Mouse rockets. The squadron soon upgraded to the F-89J. On 1 January 1957 the 412th became one of the first two groups in ADC to place its F-89Js armed with 2 nuclear
MB-1 Genie missiles, one under each wing, on alert. These aircraft were on thirty-minute "standby alert" in addition to the 412th's requirement to maintain aircraft on five-minute alert armed with conventional weapons. Alert aircraft armed with Genies could not be launched to identify unknown aircraft unless at DEFCON 1. On 8 June 1956 the group expanded when a second fighter squadron, the 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was activated. The 31st flew the single seat
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, which, like the later model F-89s of the 445th, was equipped with
data link for interception control through the
Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system. However the 31st remained at Wurtsmith only briefly, before swapping places with the
18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and moving to
Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska on 20 August 1957, while the 18th moved from
Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska to Wurtsmith.
Strategic Air Command (SAC) believed its bases with large concentrations of
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers made attractive targets for Soviet missiles. SAC's response was to break up its wings and scatter their aircraft over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. As part of this dispersal, SAC established the
4026th Strategic Wing at Wurtsmith in 1958 and the base expanded to accept bombers and tankers. 1960 saw a series of changes for the group. In January, the 445th Squadron traded its Scorpions for supersonic
McDonnell F-101 Voodoos. SAC's expanding mission saw the transfer of Wurtsmith to its jurisdiction on 1 April, along with all support units. The impending move of the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron to
Grand Forks Air Force Base would leave only one fighter squadron on the base. As a result, the 412th Fighter Group was inactivated and the 445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was reassigned to the
Sault Sainte Marie Air Defense Sector.
USAF flight testing On 1 March 1978, the 6510th Test Wing was established and activated at
Edwards Air Force Base, California as part of a re-organization of units at Edwards by
Air Force Systems Command. The 6510th assumed the flying mission of the
Air Force Flight Test Center, which was established in June 1951. The new wing had a long, established history at Edwards, having been the base host unit since the establishment of the USAF Flight Test Center. In the late 1970s, the Wing flew flight tests on the
McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle with its advanced engine and fire-control system; the single-engine
F-16C Fighting Falcon with its revolutionary, "fly-by-wire" flight control system; and the
Rockwell B-1A and the later
Rockwell B-1B Lancer in the 1980s with its multitude of highly sophisticated offensive and defensive systems. These planes more than bore out the prophecy concerning the ever-increasing importance of systems testing and integration. At a remote location in 1978 and 1979, an AFFTC test pilot and a pair of flight test engineers were engaged in proof-of-concept testing with Lockheed's "low-observable" technology demonstrator, dubbed "Have Blue." The successful conduct of these tests led immediately to the development of a new subsonic attack aircraft that was designated the
F-117A Nighthawk. The wing performed free-flight testing of the
Space Shuttle for
NASA from 1978 to 1980, and in April 1981 recovered the shuttle
Columbia following the first-ever orbital mission of a reusable spacecraft. The wing continued to provide alternate landing site services for STS recovery for many years, including for the
'Atlantis' during the
STS-117 mission in June 2007. The dual-role
F-15E Strike Eagle was developed in the 1980s and went on to demonstrate remarkable combat effectiveness in the
1991 Persian Gulf conflict. The
Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night, system revolutionized air-to-ground combat operations during the Gulf War by denying
Saddam Hussein's forces the once comforting sanctuary of night. The wing deployed support personnel and equipment to the
Middle East for
Operation Desert Shield and
Operation Desert Storm from August 1990 – March 1991. While deployed, it performed tests on
radar and weapons system accuracy. The late 1980s also witnessed the arrival of the first giant flying wing to soar over the base in nearly 40 years. The thin silhouette, compound curves and other low-observable characteristics of the
B-2 Spirit bomber represented third-generation stealth technology, following the
SR-71 and F-117. In June 1992, Air Force Systems Command was inactivated, being replaced by
Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC). AFMC replaced the 4-digit AFSC 6510th Test Wing on 2 October 1992 by reactivating the 412th Test Wing, which assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 6510th. The 412th also was consolidated with the 6510th, which preserved the history and honors of the provisional AFSC unit since its establishment in 1978. In the early 1990s, AFSC received
YF-22A and the
YF-23A Advanced Tactical Fighters. The two prototype fighters were the first airplanes to blend stealth technology with agility and high-speed, supersonic cruise capability. The YF-22A was selected to become the Air Force's new advanced tactical fighter after a brief demonstration and validation risk reduction flight test program. Now named the Raptor, the F-22A continues to undergo test and evaluation by the Wing's
411th Flight Test Squadron. A new group of research projects came to the 412th TW in the 1990s.
RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned aerial vehicle that has been used extensively in
Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and
Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq), made its first flight at Edwards in February 1998 and has gone on to fill a critical role in the global
war on terrorism. The
Martin Marietta X-24A,
Lockheed Martin X-33,
Orbital Sciences X-34 and
X-38 Space Station Crew Return Vehicle, a series of new lifting bodies, technology demonstrators and half-scale models that might make space flight, research and development safer and more economical, were tested at Edwards by
NASA. Other projects of the 412th included
XF-35A Lightning II and
Boeing X-32, competing models for the Joint Strike Fighter program, made their first flights in September and October 2000. The X-35A won the competition in 2001 and will eventually be built in various versions for America's flying armed services and for foreign air forces as well. Also new are the
Airborne Laser Program and several
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Programs. ==Lineage==