SQUADRON SPEEDS TESTING.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 test squadron demonstrated its ability to speed up testing in wartime using a test program for the Taiwanese government. The Operational Readiness The capability of a unit/formation, ship, weapon system, or equipment to perform the missions or functions for which it is organized or designed. May be used in a general sense or to express a level or degree of readiness. Also called OR. See also combat readiness. Exercise involved the 416th Flight Test Squadron, which accelerated a flight test program already in the works for equipping e·quip tr.v. e·quipped, e·quip·ping, e·quips 1. a. To supply with necessities such as tools or provisions. b. Taiwanese F-16 fighter jets with pylons that can tow decoys to draw away enemy anti-aircraft missiles. By designating the program a ``test surge,'' the squadron got priority for resources and support over other programs, officials said. ``This designation allowed us to fly approximately nine hours and finish out the original project objectives in three flights,'' said Joe Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the , the squadron's Taiwan High Angle of Attack program manager. The program, which began in January, ended about two weeks early because of the squadron's participation in the readiness exercise. The overall test objective was to evaluate the Block 30 F-16's ``high angle-of-attack'' - nose-high - handling, resistance to uncontrollable flight, and recovery characteristics with the pylon pylon (Greek: “gateway”) In modern construction, a tower that gives support, such as the steel towers between which electrical wires are strung or the piers of a bridge. and decoys attached to the aircraft, said Jeff Chen, the squadron's Taiwan High Angle of Attack project engineer. ``The exercise allowed us to finish ahead of schedule,'' Chen said, ``so we are now exploring alternative configurations to try and increase maneuver performance over what we have preliminarily assessed to date.'' The exercise's real purpose was to practice the squadron's wartime mission. ``We must to be able to meet a pressing warfighter need when called on to do so,'' said Lt. Col. Robert Malacrida, the squadron's Taiwan High Angle of Attack test pilot. ``For example, the 416th was involved in incorporating 500-pound (Joint Direct Attack Munitions Noun 1. Joint Direct Attack Munition - a pinpoint bomb guidance device that can be strapped to a gravity bomb thus converting dumb bombs into smart bombs JDAM ) on to F-16s to provide our forces in (Iraq) with precision strike capability while minimizing collateral damage collateral damage Surgery A popular term for any undesired but unavoidable co-morbidity associated with a therapy–eg, chemotherapy-induced CD to the BM and GI tract as a side effect of destroying tumor cells . Central Command said they needed it, and they had it within a month.'' In the last year, Edwards' 412th Test Wing has conducted eight test accelerations and test surges in support of the war against terrorism. CAPTION(S): Photo: Test pilot Lt. Col. Robert Malacrida examines the spin chuteon an F-16 prior to takeoff on a test for a Taiwanese government program. Air Force |
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