LASER TEST SQUADRON SALUTED.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - A stand-up stand·up or stand-up adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. ceremony last week recognized the 417th Flight Test Squadron, which will be responsible for testing a highly modified 747 fitted with a laser for destroying enemy missiles. The squadron ceremony formalizes the priority of the Airborne Laser program for the Air Force Flight Test Center's 412th Test Wing, squadron commander Lt. Col. Barry St. Germain said. ``We're coming up on a milestone with weapons systems integration on the airplane airplane, aeroplane, or aircraft, heavier-than-air vehicle, mechanically driven and fitted with fixed wings that support it in flight through the dynamic action of the air. and missile shoot-down,'' said program manager Robert Suszek. ``So as we come up on that, (the test center) is recognizing that we're going to need our own engineering cadre (company) CADRE - The US software engineering vendor which merged with Bachman Information Systems to form Cayenne Software in July 1996. , our own test-planning cadre, (and) our own operations cadre. With that comes the squadron.'' The squadron is composed of about 750 people, including the contractor work force and the government work force. The laser program was formerly a part of the 452nd Flight Test Squadron's Airborne Laser Test Force. Designated YAL-1A, the modified Boeing 747-400 airframe is equipped with sensors, lasers and sophisticated optics to find, track and destroy ballistic bal·lis·tic adj. 1. a. Of or relating to the study of the dynamics of projectiles. b. Of or relating to the study of the internal action of firearms. 2. missiles in their boost, or ascent, phase. Currently the YAL-1A is in Wichita, Kan., receiving modifications to the sub-structure of the aircraft to accommodate the integration of the weapons system, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2006, Suszek said. The ABL is a component of Missile Defense Missile defence is an air defence system, weapon program, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception and destruction of attacking missiles. Originally conceived as a defence against nuclear-armed ICBMs, its application has broadened to include shorter-ranged Agency's boost-phase segment designed to destroy enemy missiles soon after they are launched. The 417th Flight Test Squadron was originally activated at Edwards as the 6517th Test Squadron in March 1989. It was dedicated to the C-17 Globemaster III test program. In 1992, the squadron was redesignated the 417th Test Squadron in 1994 it became the 417th Flight Test Squadron. In October 1995, the squadron was inactivated inactivated rendered inactive; the activity is destroyed. inactivated viruses treated so that they are no longer able to produce evidence of growth or damaging effect on tissue. and the C-17 program was consolidated with the 418th Flight Test Squadron. |
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