Page 1 - Edwards AFB Desert Wings 12-11-15

Serving the community of Edwards Air Force Base, California

Volume 63, Number 24 www.edwards.af.mil – www.facebook.com/edwardsairforcebase December 11, 2015

Refueler connects USAF, RAAF test teams

by Rebecca Amber were loaded aboard the F-16 receiver to ex-
Staff writer HFXWHWKH¿UVWIXHOWUDQVIHUWHVWSRLQWV:KLWH
VWDWHGWKDWWKH¿UVWWHVWZDVFULWLFDOEHFDXVHLW
A Royal Australian Air Force KC-30 tank- established the ability for the F-16 to refuel
er that arrived at Edwards Nov. 30 is con- from the KC-30 via boom without relying
necting the RAAF to the U.S. Air Force in a on support tankers such as the KC-135 and
&RDOLWLRQ7DQNHU$HULDO5HIXHOLQJ&HUWL¿FD- KC-10 in future tests.
tion Effort.
“And then we’ll go and we’ll bomb it up
7KH¿UVWÀLJKWLQWKHVHULHVRIWHVWVZDV and we’ll have symmetrical loads and that’s a
Dec. 3 when the KC-30 refueled an Edwards GLIIHUHQWUHFHLYHUFRQ¿JXUDWLRQ´VDLG:KLWH
F-16.
The KC-30 will continue testing with the
The coalition test effort will satisfy the F-16 until Dec. 18, then break for the holi-
testing required to certify Australian, United days. The RAAF team and their KC-30 will
Arab Emirates and Italian tankers to refuel UHWXUQWR(GZDUGVLQWKH1HZ<HDUDQG¿QLVK
U.S. Air Force F-16s, F-15s, B-1s and A-10s XSWKH¿UVWSKDVHRIWHVWLQJLQ)HEUXDU\
using their respective booms.
“Early next year we are planning to ex-
“It’s never been done before with foreign ecute a portion of the aerial refueling testing
tankers and it gives us capability for the co- that requires an instrumented C-17. The C-17
alition effort. We don’t have to rely (solely) to be used is one stationed here at Edwards.
on U.S. tankers to support our aircraft,” said After C-17 testing is complete, aerial refu-
Adrian Martinez, 418th Flight Test Squadron eling test with a U.S. Air Force F-15 will
Aerial Refueling Integrated Test Team lead,
senior project manager. follow,” said Martinez. The KC-30 is a Multi Role Tanker Trans- Air Force photograph by Christian Turner
In spring of 2016 an Italian 767 aerial re- port aircraft that can be used for passengers,
The test team will check for qualities such cargo or as a tanker. According to White, the KC-135 and KC-10, the KC-30 Aerial Re-
as fuel pressure surges, stability of the air- fueling tanker will come to Edwards to con- RAAF team began working towards refuel- fueling Boom System (ARBS) is software
craft being refueled and the handling quali- tinue the coalition effort, paired with an F-15 driven. Instead of the boom operator lying
ties of the boom for a full Category 3 Cer- and F-16. Then the United Arab Emirates in a pod looking out a window, it’s operated
KC-30 will conduct the last leg of testing
WL¿FDWLRQ with a B-1 and an A-10 in the later summer LQJFHUWL¿FDWLRQVLQZLWKPRUHIRFXV IURPWKHÀLJKWGHFNE\DHULDOUHIXHOLQJRI¿-
RQERRPFHUWL¿FDWLRQGXULQJWR cers using a series of cameras and 3D glasses
“This testing is all about a tanker and re- months.
ceiver pair,” said Colin White, Australian “The [Australian] KC-30 is based on the From 2011 to 2014, they also completed for depth perception.
KC-30A Aerial Refueling clearance man- Airbus A330 commercial aircraft that’s been hose and drogue testing that allowed the KC- “The U.S. Air Force is very interested in
ager. militarized, turned into a tanker, and for us 30 to refuel Royal Australian Navy F-18s. the boom capability, all their receivers are
7KHLQLWLDOÀLJKWZDVÀRZQZLWKDFOHDQ we’ve also got 270 passenger seats in the 7KHERRPRQWKH.&LVDÀ\E\ZLUH
wing configuration. No weapons or tanks aircraft,” said White.
system. Unlike legacy tankers such as the See REFUEL, Page 5

Team Edwards air-launches target missile for MDA test

by Rebecca Amber “Dropping something that heavy at MDA photograph
Staff writer that high of an altitude is not trivial,
DQGWKHWHVWFHQWHUVSHFL¿FDOO\LVJHW- An Air Force Test Center C-17 manned by an Edwards crew launches a second target, an extended Medium
Over the summer, the Air Force ting very good at those unique mis- 5DQJH%DOOLVWLF0LVVLOHLQWRDGHEULV¿HOGFUHDWHGE\WKH7+$$'ZHDSRQV\VWHPZKLFKLQWHUFHSWHGDQG
Test Center sent a C-17 with air and sions.” destroyed a Short Range Air Launch Target. One important aspect of the test event was to demonstrate that
maintenance crews from Edwards to $HJLV%DOOLVWLF0LVVLOH'HIHQVHZDVDEOHWRGHWHFWDWDUJHWLQVLGHRIDGHEULV¿HOG
Hawaii, but it was no vacation. The airdrop supported MDA’s
Ballistic Missile Defense System
The crews worked 24-hour shifts designed to negate ballistic missile
for several months to support a Mis- WKUHDWV6SHFL¿FDOO\WKLVZDVDQRS-
sile Defense Agency test of the Bal- erational test of the THAAD weapon
listic Missile Defense System over the system located on Wake Island and
ZHVWHUQ3DFL¿F2FHDQ the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense
from the Navy’s USS John Paul Jones
Edward’s role in the test was to guided missile destroyer.
launch a ballistic missile target at a
precise time and location for the de- After three months of preparation
fense shields to track and terminate. and multiple delays, the test, desig-
The 412th Maintenance Group per- nated “Flight Test Operational-02
sonnel spent the months leading up Event 2a,” was successfully executed
to the test keeping the missile under Oct. 31.
“strict environmental conditions on
the back of the aircraft.” Southeast of Wake Island, a C-17
supplied by Air Mobility Command
“High altitude, heavy weight air- launched a Short Range Air Launch
drop is something we’re doing a lot of Target (SRALT) over the Pacific
here at Edwards, supporting not only Ocean that was detected and inter-
MDA, but NASA with the Orion cap- cepted by the THAAD weapon sys-
sule drops that we’ve been doing out tem from Wake Island.
at Yuma,” said Capt. Stephen Koether,
418th Flight Test Squadron, C-17 ex- As the AMC C-17 turned towards
perimental test pilot. home, the AFTC C-17 manned by an

See MDA, Page 8