| Unit Name: | 452nd Flight Test Squadron |
| Dates: | 1942–1945; 1947–1949; 1954–1957; 1972–1993; 1993–present |
| Type: | Squadron |
| Role: | Flight testing |
| Garrison: | Edwards Air Force Base, California |
| Battles: | European Theater of Operations[1] |
| Decorations: | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Identification Symbol Label: | 452d Flight Test Squadron emblem |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | 452d Fighter-Day Squadron emblem |
| Identification Symbol 3 Label: | 452d Bombardment Squadron emblem[2] |
| Identification Symbol 4: | DR |
| Identification Symbol 4 Label: | World War II fuselage code |
| Identification Symbol 5: | ED |
| Identification Symbol 5 Label: | Tail Code, 1993–2010; 2017–present |
| Aircraft Recon: | RQ-4B Global Hawk |
The 452nd Flight Test Squadron is an active United States Air Force squadron. It is assigned to the 412th Operations Group of Air Force Materiel Command, stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, where it performs flight testing on unmanned aerial vehicles. The squadron was first activated as the 452nd Bombardment Squadron in July 1942. After training in the United States, it deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in December 1942. It engaged in combat operations from 1943 to 1945, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for demonstrating the effectiveness of medium bombers in the ETO. Following V-E Day, it participated in the disarmament of the Luftwaffe until September 1945, when it returned to the United States for inactivation.
The squadron served in the reserves from August 1947 to June 1949, when it was inactivated when Continental Air Command reorganized its flying units, although it does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped with operational aircraft at this time.
The squadron was activated in July 1954 as the 452nd Fighter-Day Squadron and equipped with North American F-86 Sabre fighters. Although it soon upgraded to the supersonic North American F-100 Super Sabre it was inactivated in November 1957, when Tactical Air Command reduced the number of fighter groups at Foster Air Force Base from two to one.
In 1973, Air Training Command was converting its flying training units from MAJCON status. As part of this reorganization, the squadron was redesignated the 452nd Flying Training Squadron and replaced the 3539th Navigator Training Squadron at Mather Air Force Base, California. It conducted flight training for members of the United States military and foreign allies until inactivating in May 1993 as Mather prepared for closure.
The squadron was activated in November 1993 as the 452nd Test Squadron it performed tests with large transport aircraft until inactivating in June 2010. It was activated again in March 2017 in its current role.
The squadron is the test force for the Global Vigilance Task Force.[3] Prior to June 2023, the squadron performed flight testing on Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)[4] used by the United States Air Force, NATO, Republic of Korea Air Force, and Japan Air Self-Defense Force.
The squadron was first activated at MacDill Field, Florida on 17 July 1942 as the 452nd Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 322nd Bombardment Group.[1] [5] [6] However, it did not receive its initial cadre until 7 August.[1] It was equipped with Martin B-26 Marauders and trained with them at MacDill and at Drane Field, Florida. The ground echelon of the squadron departed for the Port of Embarkation in November and sailed for the United Kingdom aboard the on 24 November, arriving in the United Kingdom six days later. The air echelon continued training in Florida[7] until it began to ferry its Marauders from Morrison Field to Europe via the South Atlantic ferry route as new aircraft became available. The 452nd was the second squadron of the group to leave the United States, departing in March 1943.[8]
The ground echelon was established at RAF Rattlesden, its first combat station, on 1 December 1942. The 322nd Group flew its first mission, and the first B-26 Marauder mission in the European Theater of Operations, on 14 May against an electrical power plant near IJmuiden in the Netherlands using low level attack tactics. The planes of the 452nd suffered much of the heaviest damage on this attack, with the plane flown by Maj G. C. Celio, the squadron's commander, returning with over 300 holes from enemy fire.[9] Three days later, the group dispatched eleven planes for a repeat low level attack on the IJmuiden power plant and another at Haarlem in the Netherlands. One plane returned early due to a mechanical malfunction. The remaining ten aircraft and their crews were lost to enemy action. For these actions and for demonstrating the effectiveness of medium bombers, the 322nd Group, including the squadron, was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.[1] [5]
In June 1943, the squadron, along with all other B-26 units in England, moved to Essex, an area where it was planned to build up a tactical air force for the forthcoming invasion of Europe, with the 452nd arriving at RAF Great Saling on 12 June.[1] [10] Once the squadron reentered combat, enemy airfields were its principal targets through February 1944, but it also attacked power stations, shipyards, construction works, marshalling yards and other targets. In March 1944, its emphasis shifted to railway and highway bridges, and oil storage facilities in preparation for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. It also participated in Operation Crossbow, the attacks on V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket launch sites.[5]
On D-Day, the squadron attacked coastal defenses and artillery batteries. It supported the Allies in the Battle for Caen and in Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo in July. Through August and September, it provided air support for the drive of United States Third Army across Northern France.[5]
In late September, the squadron moved from England to Beauvais/Tille Airfield, France.[1] It bombed bridges, road junctions, defended villages, and ordnance depots in the assault on the Siegfried Line from October through December of 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge, it flew attacks on railroad bridges to cut German lines of communications. From then until it flew its last mission on 24 April 1945, it concentrated on communications, bridges, marshalling yards and fuel dumps.[5]
Following V-E Day, the 452nd transferred its aircraft and flying personnel to other units. The remainder of the squadron personnel then moved to Wickenrode, Germany, and later to Hornel as part of the military occupation force. It engaged in inventorying and disassembling Luftwaffe equipment until September 1945. In December it returned to the United States and was inactivated at the Port of Embarkation on 11 December 1945.[1] [5]
The squadron was reactivated in the reserves on 9 August 1947 at Reading Army Air Field, Pennsylvania, where its training was supervised by the 438th AAF Base Unit (later the 2237 Air Force Reserve Training Center). It does not appear to have been fully manned and was equipped only with trainer aircraft.[1] In July 1948 Continental Air Command (ConAC) assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.[11] In June 1949, ConAC reorganized its flying units under the Wing/Base organization and the 452nd was inactivated[1] and its personnel were transferred to the 319th Bombardment Wing.[12]
The squadron was redesignated the 452nd Fighter-Day Squadron and activated at Foster Air Force Base, Texas as Tactical Air Command took over Foster from Air Training Command (ATC). It was initially equipped with North American F-86 Sabre fighters, but by 1955 was replacing them with supersonic North American F-100 Super Sabres. The squadron deployed its Super Sabres to Landstuhl Air Base, West Germany in September 1956. However, the Air Force decided to close Foster. In November 1957, the 450th Fighter-Day Wing reduced to a single group and the squadron was inactivated along with other elements of the 322nd Fighter-Day Group.[1] [5] [13]
The 3539th Navigator Training Squadron was established at Mather Air Force Base on 1 April 1965.[14] The navigator training program at Mather expanded at this time when navigator training at James Connally Air Force Base ended and all navigator training was concentrated at Mather. A number of Convair T-29 Flying Classrooms equipped with special electronics were transferred from James Connally to Mather in connection with this change.[15]
However, the 3539th was a Major Command controlled (MAJCON) unit, created by ATC. MAJCON units could not carry a permanent history or lineage. ATC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCON flying training wings and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time, which could carry a lineage and history in their place.
On 1 April 1973, the squadron was activated as the 452nd Flying Training Squadron.[1] It absorbed the personnel, mission and resources of the 3539th Navigator Training Squadron which was simultaneously inactivated. In 1978, the first females began navigator training.[16] It continued to conduct undergraduate navigator training for USAF, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States allies until 1993.[1] [17] In 1989, the base closure commission recommended that Mather be closed. The Air Force moved its navigator training to Randolph Air Force Base, Texas and the squadron was inactivated on 31 May 1993 as Mather drew down in preparing for closing on 1 October 1993.[1] [18]
The 452nd squadron was redesignated the 452nd Test Squadron and reactivated in October 1993 at Edwards Air Force Base,[1] when it assumed the personnel, mission and ARIA aircraft of the 4952d Test Squadron that was simultaneously inactivated. The 452nd also acquired the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and Boeing NKC-135 aircraft and their test missions. These planes were used for air refueling certification of test aircraft and such projects as aircraft icing tests.
ARIA aircraft also flew the Cruise Missile Mission Control Aircraft (CMMCA) missions. These missions could require up to five hours of continuoous tracking. The vehicle being tracked flew below the ARIA and real-time data was relayed directly to ground stations. ARIA aircraft also flew as the primary remote command & control/flight termination system for these missions and mission commanders could steer the device by remote control with an on-board joystick. CMMCA aircraft were divided into two groups: The phase 0 CMMCA was used to monitor and control a cruise missile throughout its flight. The Advanced CMMCA provided the same capabilities plus a tracking/surveillance radar for stand-alone operations and real-time data processing and display.[20]
The unit' ARIA and NKC-135s supported a variety of national and international customers, both military and commercial, including NASA and Department of Defense missions supporting unmanned space launches, cruise missile tests, Army, Navy and Air Force ballistic missile tests and space shuttle launches. Other missions supported include international treaty verification, electronic combat and vulnerability analysis.[20]
As of June 2000 Navy instructor pilots briefly used EC-18Bs from the 452nd to train aircrews for Boeing E-6B Mercury aircraft, providing communication links between national command authorities and U.S. strategic nuclear forces. Cadre from Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 7 (VQ-7) at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, rotated to Edwards periodically to train pilots and navigators aboard the EC-18s. After returning to Oklahoma, they made several E-6 flights before graduating from the program. VQ-7 was using 452d aircraft because one of its two aging trainers, a TC-18, was grounded after an FAA-mandated inspection. The EC-18 and TC-18 were both modified Boeing 707s, and with the EC-18not flying as frequently as in the past, it was available for the Navy's immediate need.
On 10 February 1998 the annual Force Structure Announcement formalized adjustments to the aircraft fleet at Edwards, included the loss of one EC-18 and one EC-135 aircraft. These changes were the result a continuation of the normal fleet adjustments which occur at Edwards as test programs change and the general test aircraft fleet is upgraded and modernized.[20] By late 2000 all but two of the fleet had been retired, and support of the EC-18 and NKC-135 was transferred to the 418th Flight Test Squadron on 1 October.
In December 2002, the 452d received the YAL-1 Airborne Laser Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400F freighter. In July 2002, the modified aircraft took the first of a series of test flights. After receiving airworthiness certification, the aircraft was flown to Edwards Air Force Base, California, in December 2002, for the installation of systems.[21] As part of the YAL-1 program, Detachment 2 of the squadron was established at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The YAL-1A, made more than a dozen flights demonstrating its airworthiness. With only its computers and infrared heat sensors aboard, it successfully tracked a ballistic missile launched from Vandenberg AFB from cloud-break to burnout, confirming it could carry out the first part of its mission.[21]
The aircraft returned to airworthiness flight testing in December 2004 following installation of the beam control/fire control system. In November 2004, all six modules of the chemical oxygen iodine laser laser were successfully fired for the first time. In August 2005, the YAL-1 completed a series of flight tests demonstrating the performance of the beam and flight control systems. The beacon illuminating laser, able to control the beam to allow for atmospheric distortion, was delivered in January 2006.[22] Flight testing of the YAL-1 was transferred to the 417th Flight Test Squadron in March 2006.
The squadron began flight testing for the General Atomics RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV in 2004, starting with the RQ-4A Block 10 in a major change in the tyoe of aircraft tested. Subsequently, the unit has tested RQ-4B Blocks 20, 30, 40,[23] [24] and has tested the NATO RQ-4D and Korea and Japan RQ-4 variants. The squadron was inactive from 2010 to 2017. The squadron is the test force for the Global Vigilance Task Force.[25] The squadron marked the end of Global Hawk testing in a ceremony held on 9 June 2023.[4]
Activated on 17 July 1942
Redesignated 452d Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 9 October 1944
Inactivated on 12 December 1945
Activated in the Reserve on 9 August 1947
Inactivated on 27 June 1949
Activated on 1 July 1954
Inactivated on 18 November 1957
Activated on 1 April 1973
Inactivated on 31 May 1993
Activated on 1 October 1993
Redesignated 452d Flight Test Squadron on 1 March 1994
Inactivated on 30 June 2010