780th Test Squadron tests conventional munitions for Air Force

  • Published
  • By Noel Getlin
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  This is part of a series exploring the cradle-to-grave process of air armament. These stories will focus on some of the units involved in the acquisition, development and testing of weapons systems at Eglin Air Force Base.

If there was ever any question as to Eglin's impact on contingency operations, look no further than June 7, 2006. On that day, two Air Force F-16s took out wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi with two smart bombs, one of which, the Joint Direct Attack Munition, was tested here. 

The JDAM is a bomb tail kit that provides GPS and inertial navigation, essentially turning a gravity bomb into a smart bomb. Units at Eglin turned the JDAM around in about a year after Desert Storm revealed a need for guided weapons to work in poor visibility. 

One of the key players in making the JDAM a lethal reality is the 780th Test Squadron. They represent the munitions test arm of the 46th Test Wing, supporting Eglin weapons' acquisition team that includes the Air Force Research Lab and the System Program Offices. 

"The 780th Test Squadron is responsible for the majority of developmental testing of Air Force conventional weapons," said Major David Ferris, operations officer, 780th TS.
"We are entrusted as the munitions test experts for the 46th Test Wing, supporting the core munitions acquisition mission at Eglin," said Martin Hammond, squadron director. "Our charge is to shepherd, plan, and execute test programs for our customers that are largely from the Systems Program Offices and AFRL here at Eglin." 

The squadron remains extremely busy, directing daily test operations for 306 armament programs and performing about 1,600 missions per year. Their biggest customer is the 308th Armament Systems Wing, the primary programs office for weapons. But for the 308th, test is just one of many tasks they must get through as they manage programs. They task the 780th to run the testing program on the weapon, and in turn, the 780th works with several other units at Eglin for their testing expertise. 

"We are not a flight test squadron and thus do not have airplanes ... so we reach out to a variety of flight test squadrons and operation units to fly our tests," the major said. "The 40th Flight Test Squadron here at Eglin, flies the majority of our weapons testing. We've also been working closely with the 413th Flight Test squadron on a number of weapon programs for Air Force Special Operations Command and U.S. Special Operations Command." 

Both the 40th FLTS and 413th FLTS provide the operational arm of much of the 780th flight test to include the test pilots, aircrew and aircraft, while the 780th provides the program engineers and test engineers to lead, plan, and execute the weapon tests. 

The 780th TS is broken up into three main areas: air-to-air weapons test, air-to-surface weapons test, and ground weapons test. There's also a weapons effects flight that interacts with all three areas, but its focus is helping the Office of the Secretary of Defense with the programs where they have Live Fire Test and Evaluation oversight.
On the air-to-air side, the squadron tests the world's two premier Air Intercept Missiles employed by the Air Force and joint warfighters. The AIM-120D, a fourth-generation radar-guided Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, and the AIM-9X, a fifth-generation short-range heat-seeking air-to-air missile, serve as the backbone in achieving air dominance. 

"The air-to-air weapons we test fill a vital role in giving our combat air forces the ability to dictate the aerial environment over a theater of operations," said Captain David Garay, assistant operations officer. "With evolving threat scenarios and foreign technology advancements, we persistently push state-of-the-art technology forward to stay ahead of their capabilities." 

On the air-to-ground side there are several programs to include the Small Diameter Bomb I and II, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), and JDAM upgrades just to name a few. 

"The SDB was a recent Eglin success story that fielded an urgent need to minimize collateral damage in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Captain Jeff LaFleur, air-to-surface weapons test flight commander. "Currently the squadron is conducting SDB II flight testing in support of a competition to develop and field a more capable SDB."
Quick-reaction air-to-surface tests are regularly performed for various high-priority Special Operations Command weapons systems platforms. 

"Many SOCOM tests are a result of urgent warfighter needs," said Captain David Garay. "Often times the SOCOM weapons we test end up in the AOR the week after they test to immediately impact combat operations." 

In ground weapons test, they perform several major types of weapons testing, including sled track testing, arena testing, static explosions, and they have a unit that tests guns and ammunition. 

"Classic ground tests include an arena test where a test item is placed within a set of unique targets and instrumentation, then remotely detonated to collect vulnerability and lethality information," said Doug Davis, weapons ground test flight commander. "Or a sled test that actually simulates air impact parameters by delivering a warhead down the Eglin sled track into a realistic target at operational velocities and impact angles to collect warhead/fuze survivability and functionality information. It's all part of risk reduction." 

On the flight side, the focus initially is carrying the weapon on the airplane, which is where the Air Force SEEK EAGLE Office gets involved. AFSEO will carry out analysis to predict whether the bomb and rack will fly and release safely. Then in some cases, the 780th will execute compatibility flight profiles with the weapon on the aircraft to make sure it is safe to carry. 

The 780th TS consists primarily of program and test engineers. The program engineer deals mainly with documentation, funding and scheduling with the customer. The test engineers work with the air crews and range personnel, write the flight cards and perform the planning and execution of the test. When the squadron is given a test mission, they assign a program and a test engineer to run the test. They work with other units as needed, such as AFSEO for weapons separation tests. 

"Say a customer comes to you and wants to drop a CBU-105 (a sensor fuzed weapon)," Captain LaFleur said. "Our program and test engineers will shepherd all of the many pieces and events that come into play. Once the planning is done and documents are signed, you've got several milestones to achieve such as your safety board and flight clearance, and ultimately our team will brief the Operations Group commander on the plan because he must approve any flight test." 

During the flight tests, the 780th has a test engineer in the control room on the ground orchestrating the entire test. They also have flight test engineers who fly in the back seat to assist the test pilots during test mission execution. They provide in-flight weapons test expertise gained from their detailed involvement with the technical and programmatic planning that goes on behind the scenes. 

"The flight test engineer provides a critical link between the discipline engineers and the operations communities, helping them understand and communicate with each other," said Captain Garay. "It's a huge challenge getting detailed engineering specifications in line with what can be done in a practical operations environment."