AFMC Command News

  • DoD, academia test systems for GPS denial

    Navigating the globe was once done using the sun, moon and stars as references, but modern times bring modern methods, and the majority of the world now relies on GPS for its navigation needs.

  • Dream Chaser undergoes captive carry test at Edwards

    EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser underwent a captive carry test at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center here Aug. 30. The test was part of the spacecraft’s Phase Two flight test efforts to advance the orbiter closer to space flight, according to an SNC

  • Measurement lab passes evaluation with precision

    EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Edwards Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory passed a recent evaluation that ensures the lab performs measurements that are safe, accurate, reliable and traceable. Maj. Gen. David Harris, Air Force Test Center commander, and Brig. Gen. Carl Schaefer,

  • New airliner tests at Edwards AFB

    A Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes off after a touch-and-go landing at Edwards AFB Aug. 14, 2017. Boeing has been conducting flight tests with its newest airliner at Edwards recently. Periodically, aviation industry companies are provided the opportunity to conduct flight tests at Edwards given the

  • Airman recognized for peaceful end to potentially deadly situation

    After 16 years as a U.S. Air Force Security Forces member, Master Sgt. Maurice Lucas II had never needed to pull his duty weapon out of his holster while serving at his home base. That commendable streak ended Oct. 8, 2016. Then-Tech. Sgt. Lucas was working as flight chief in charge of the 412th

  • B-52 testers complete leaflet bomb drops

    EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- An important part of U.S. military operations overseas is communicating with the local population. This can be done in a number of ways including something as simple as distributing leaflets.   In psychological operations, leaflets with messages are often dropped

  • Innovation challenge brings possible advancement in F-22 test capabilities

    The 412th Test Wing’s Experimentation Center for Ideas/Technology Exploration team, known as XCITE, hosted a one-day innovation challenge July 10. Several engineers from around the base partnered with members of the Desert High School Robotics team to come up with a solution to a real-world test

  • Security forces look to technology, innovation for future base security

    Defenders of the 412th Security Forces Squadron and 412th Test Wing leadership got an up close look at a system July 10 that could possibly help with base security in the future. A private company set up its Raptor surveillance system at a remote building near the edge of Rogers Dry Lakebed. The

  • Test team looks at new parachute for ACES II ejection seat

    Members of the 418th Flight Test Squadron are testing a new parachute canopy for the Advanced Concept Ejection Seat II, or ACES II. Testers are collecting data on the GR7000 parachute, which has been proposed to replace the current C-9 canopy used in the ACES II ejection seat. The testing is part of

  • KC-46 Pegasus undergoes testing in Benefield Anechoic Facility

    A KC-46A Pegasus has entered the Benefield Anechoic Facility for the first time. The new aerial refueling tanker is undergoing tests to demonstrate that it meets Federal Aviation Administration certification requirements and Defense Department electromagnetic environmental effects requirements for

  • F-22 Flying Test Bed is tip of spear for Raptor mission systems

    From time to time, the F-22 Raptor Combined Test Force at the 411th Flight Test Squadron gets a visit from an old friend. A highly modified and instrumented Boeing 757 called the F-22 Flying Test Bed is an F-22 avionics laboratory. The experimental FTB is the very first Boeing 757 ever produced,

  • Love for flying kept last KC-135 flight engineer flying for decades

    EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- After a career that has spanned almost four decades, the last Air Force flight engineer for the KC-135 Stratotanker is set to retire at Edwards. Master Sgt. Robert Self joined the U.S. Marine Corps in November 1978 and will wrap up his military career next month as

  • Portable Manned Interactive Cockpit goes on the road

    One of 2016’s quick-kill innovation projects, the Portable Manned Interactive Cockpit, was deployed to Orlando, Florida, to participate in the Operation Blended Warrior event in December. This was the second year of a four-year event. Mark Louton, an Experimentation Center for Ideas/Technology

  • JSF pilot ensemble designed to keep out chemical, biological agents

    After several tests during the past six months to contaminate and decontaminate an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with simulated chemical and biological agents, the 461st Flight Test Squadron has now moved forward to testing a suit ensemble designed to protect the pilot from those threats. “Over a

  • Local law enforcement joins Edwards defenders for training

    EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Law enforcement representatives from the region met up with 412th Security Forces Squadron members for Behavior Detection and Analysis training. Two iterations of three-day classes occurred Jan. 18-20 and Jan. 23-25, 2017. Department of Homeland Security trainers