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{{short description|U.S. Air Force flight testing facility}}
{{redirect|AEDC|the Australian body established in 1990|Aboriginal Economic Development Corporation}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=February 2008}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Arnold Engineering Development Complex[[File:Air Force Materiel Command.png|60px]]
| image = [[File:Arnoldafb-3.jpg|Arnoldafb-3|290px]]
| caption = An [[F-35 Lightning II]] Joint Strike Fighter model in the Arnold Engineering Development Center's 16-foot transonic wind tunnel
| dates = 1950–present
| country = {{flag|United States|23px}}
| branch = {{air force|USA}}
| role = Test facility
| size =
| command_structure = [[Air Force Test Center]], [[Air Force Materiel Command]]
| garrison = [[Arnold Air Force Base]], Tennessee
| garrison_label =
| nickname = AEDC
| patron = [[Henry H. Arnold|Gen Henry "Hap" Arnold]]
| motto =
| decorations = [[Air Force Organizational Excellence Award]]
| commander1 = Col. Grant A. Mizell
| commander1_label = Commander
| identification_symbol = [[File:Arnold Engineering Development Complex shield emblem.jpg|175px]]
| identification_symbol_label = Arnold Engineering Development Complex emblem
| identification_symbol_2 =
| identification_symbol_2_label =
}}

The '''Arnold Engineering Development Complex''' ('''AEDC'''), '''Arnold Engineering Development Center''' before July 2012, is an Air Force Materiel Command facility under the control of the [[Air Force Test Center]] (AFTC). Named for [[Henry H. Arnold|General Henry "Hap" Arnold]], the father of the U.S. Air Force, AEDC is the most advanced and largest complex of flight simulation test facilities in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Norris |first=Daizha |date=2018-08-07 |title=Arnold Engineering Development Center |url=http://www.nasa.gov/Directorates/heo/rpt/arnold-engineering-development-center-static.html |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=NASA}}</ref>

Headquartered at [[Arnold Air Force Base]], [[Tennessee]], the Complex also operates from geographically separated units at Ames Research Center, Mountain View and Edwards AFB, California; Peterson AFB, Colorado; Eglin AFB, Florida; the Federal Research Center at White Oak, Maryland; Holloman AFB, Kirtland AFB, and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and Hill AFB, Utah. AEDC operates more than 68 test facilities, including, but not limited to, aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, rocket and turbine engine test cells, environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges, sled tracks, centrifuges, and other specialized test units.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ARNOLD ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT COMPLEX|url=https://www.arnold.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/409286/arnold-engineering-development-complex/|access-date=2020-09-30|website=Arnold Air Force Base|language=en-US}}</ref>

AEDC conducts developmental testing and evaluation through modeling, simulation, ground, and flight testing. The complex supports testing for a wide range of customers in the aerospace and defense industries, including, but not limited to, Air Force, Navy, Army, Missile Defense Agency and NASA.<ref name=":0" />

Testing aims to evaluate aircraft, missile, and space systems/subsystems at the flight conditions they will experience during a mission. The complex aims to be the best value U.S. ground test and analysis source for aerospace and defense systems.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Wayback Machine |url=https://www.arnold.af.mil/Portals/49/documents/AFD-080625-010.pdf?ver=2016-06-16-100801-260 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240329040450/https://www.arnold.af.mil/Portals/49/documents/AFD-080625-010.pdf?ver=2016-06-16-100801-260 |archive-date=2024-03-29 |access-date=2025-07-27 |website=www.arnold.af.mil}}</ref>

==Staff agencies==
* Test Division
** Turbine Engine Ground Test Complex
*** [[AEDC Sea Level Test Cells]]
*** [[Aero-propulsion Systems Test Facility]]
*** [[AEDC Engine Test Facility]]
** Propulsion Wind Tunnel Ground Test Complex
*** [[Propulsion Wind Tunnel Facility]]
*** [[Von Karman Gas Dynamics Facility]]
** Space and Missile Ground Test Complex
*** [[AEDC Space Chambers Test Facility]]
*** [[High-Enthalpy Arc Heated Facility]]
*** [[Aero-ballistic Range Facility]]
*** [[Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit]]
* Maintenance Division
** Support Asset Branch
** Test Asset Branch
* Mission Support Division
** Communications Branch
** Civil Engineer Branch
** Services
* Test Systems Division
** Technology Branch
** Investments Branch
** Management Operations

==Environmental issues==

Several areas of the facility are contaminated by substances including [[polychlorinated biphenyl]]s (PCBs) and [[volatile organic compounds]] and spills of [[jet fuel|jet]] and [[rocket fuel]], [[chlorofluorocarbon]] solvents, [[nitric acid]] and other materials. PCBs from the site have been detected in local creeks, in the water, sediment and in fish.<ref>{{cite web | title=NPL Site Narrative for Arnold Engineering Develop. Ctr. (USAF) | publisher=EPA | url=http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/nplsnl/n0404166.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024191419/http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/nplsnl/n0404166.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=24 October 2012 | access-date=2010-05-06}}</ref>

The site was proposed for addition to the [[Superfund]] National Priorities List in August 1994 though, as of May 2010, the site has not been added to the NPL.<ref name=Superfund-progress>{{cite web|title=Arnold Engineering Development Center (USAF) Superfund Site Progress Profile |publisher=EPA |url=http://cfpub.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0404166 |access-date=2010-05-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222033103/http://cfpub.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0404166 |archive-date=2012-02-22 }}</ref> The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] believes that human exposure to contaminants and contaminated groundwater migration are under control.<ref name=Superfund-progress/>

==External facilities==
* The [[Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9]] is located in [[Silver Spring, Maryland]]
* The National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) is located at [[NASA]] [[Ames Research Center]], Moffett Field, California. The NFAC was closed by NASA in 2003. In February 2006, AEDC entered into an agreement with NASA to lease the facility for a period of up to 25 years.
* McKinley Climatic Laboratory, Eglin AFB, Florida
* [[704th Test Group]], Holloman Air Force Base. Colonel Karl Seekamp officially took command of the 704th Test Group at Holloman Air Force Base during a ceremony on 9 September 2022.<ref>{{cite web|title=Col. Seekamp now leading 704th Test Group at Holloman |url=https://www.dvidshub.net/news/429856/col-seekamp-now-leading-704th-test-group-holloman}}</ref> Detachment 1 operates the National Radar Cross Section Test Facility.<ref>{{cite web|title=US Air Force 704th Test Group Detachment 1 Prepares for Next-gen Radar Cross Section Testing |url=https://militaryleak.com/2021/08/28/us-air-force-704th-test-group-det-1-prepares-for-next-gen-radar-cross-section-testing/|date=28 August 2021}}</ref> The group consists of three squadrons,<ref>{{cite web|title=704th Test Group |url=http://www.usafunithistory.com/PDF/0700/704%20TEST%20GP.pdf}}</ref> including the [[716th Test Squadron]], 1 June 2006 – 30 June 2010.
* Other Testing Facilities at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; and at Wright-Patterson AFB

==History==
The Air Engineering Development Center was authorized by an act of the 81st Congress, Public Law 415, approved 27 Oct. 1949 (Appendix 2).

On 7 March 1950, the Air Engineering Development Center was redesignated the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) effective 10 February 1950, per General Order #23, signed by then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General [[Hoyt S. Vandenberg]]. Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) was later redesignated Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) on 6 July 2012.

The complex is a part of a master unitary [[wind tunnel]] plan that is designated to provide the testing "tools" required to assure the United States continued air and space supremacy.

The necessity for an aeronautical test complex of this type was recognized by a number of different agencies of the government, as well as by expert technical groups from the industrial-scientific world. The creation of these research and testing facilities has enabled the U.S. to stay abreast of developments in this fast-moving field.

AEDC is one of the most advanced and largest complex of flight simulation test facilities in the world with a replacement value of more than $7.8 billion.

At one time or another, the center has operated 58 aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, rocket and turbine engine test cells, space environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges and other specialized units. Twenty-seven of the center's test units have capabilities unmatched elsewhere in the United States; 14 are unique in the world.

Facilities can simulate flight conditions from sea level to 300 miles' altitude and from subsonic velocities to Mach 14.

AEDC's mission is to:

* Test and evaluate aircraft, missile and space systems and subsystems at the flight conditions they will experience during a mission to help customers develop and qualify the systems for flight, improve system designs and establish performance before production. It also helps users troubleshoot problems with operational systems.
* Conduct a research and technology program to develop advanced testing techniques and instrumentation and to support the design of new test facilities. Continuous improvement helps satisfy testing needs and keeps pace with rapidly advancing aircraft, missile and space system requirements.
* Maintain and modernize the center's existing test facilities.

AEDC is an important national resource and has contributed to the development of practically every one of the nation's top priority aerospace programs, including better spacelift, aircraft, missiles and satellites. Many of these programs are highlighted in the following sections.

AEDC is an Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) organization managed by the Air Force but operated largely by a contractor work force. While AEDC's primary location is in Tennessee, it also operates two geographically separated facilities—the Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 in Maryland, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC), in California.

AEDC's economic impact to the local area for fiscal year 2008 exceeded $728 million. The total economic impact includes the center's payroll, secondary jobs created locally though the spending of that payroll, and other expenditures for supplies, utilities, fuel and services.

As a consultant to General Arnold, [[Theodore von Kármán]] first called for the center:
:In 1947 [[Stuart Symington]] became the first secretary of the newly independent Air Force, and he strove hard to bring into reality some of my proposals, particularly the new facilities for Air Force research which I had urged in the report.<ref>[https://www.governmentattic.org/TwardNewHorizons.html Toward New Horizons] from Governmentattic.org</ref>
:One of the main items was a new U.S. center for the study and development of jet propulsion, supersonic aircraft, and ballistic missiles, a center I hoped would be greater than any then known. The proposal had actually begun after [[Frank Wattendorf]]'s 1945 visit to the huge wind tunnel at [[Ötztal]], Austria, which was bigger and more powerful than any in the United States.<ref>[[Frank Wattendorf]] (1945) "Reports on selected topics of German and Swiss Aeronautical Developments", v 3, pt 3, ''Toward New Horizons''</ref><ref name=TvK>[[Theodore von Kármán]] with Lee Edson (1967) ''The Wind and Beyond'', chapter 37: A New Air Force Emerges, pp 298 to 309</ref>{{rp|298}}

:Symington managed to round up sufficient support in Congress and to obtain the necessary funds, about 100 million dollars. The Air Force agreed to go ahead with the proposal to set up the center, and a committee was appointed which traveled around the country seeking a suitable site. One of the necessary requirements was a direct source of stored hydraulic power, as planned at Ötztal, to run the multi-thousand horsepower motors needed for the big wind tunnels.<ref name=TvK/>{{rp|299}}

:[[Kenneth McKellar (politician)|Senator McKellar]], Chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Armed Services Committee]], [made] a clever offer. He said the state of Tennessee would give up Camp Forest, a 40,000-acre World War II camp near Tullahoma, if the Air Force would set up its huge center there. Congress was about to adjourn and it looked like nothing would get done for another year. The Air Force, being realistic, accepted the offer ... The Arnold Engineering Development Center (as it was finally named) was dedicated in Tullahoma by [[President Truman]] in 1952.<ref name=TvK/>{{rp|299,300}}

The center operates more than 68 [[Aerodynamics|aerodynamic]] and propulsion [[wind tunnel]]s, [[rocket]] and [[turbine]] engine test cells, space environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges, and other specialized units. Currently, AEDC's Test Operations and Sustainment contractor is [https://bnh-jv.com/ Beyond New Horizons].

The center has helped to develop most aerospace systems in the U.S. government's inventory, including the [[Atlas (rocket family)|Atlas]], [[Titan (rocket family)|Titan]], [[LGM-30 Minuteman|Minuteman]] and [[LGM-118 Peacekeeper|Peacekeeper]] [[Intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM]]s, the [[Space Shuttle]], [[International Space Station|space station]], and Projects [[Project Mercury|Mercury]], [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] and [[Apollo program|Apollo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arnold.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=12977 |title=ARNOLD ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT COMPLEX |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006144805/http://www.arnold.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=12977 |archive-date=2014-10-06 }}</ref>

It is named for [[Henry H. Arnold|General Henry "Hap" Arnold]], the father of the US Air Force and an air power visionary. The [[University of Tennessee Space Institute]] (UTSI) is located adjacent to AEDC.

The center lies near [[Manchester, Tennessee]] and [[Tullahoma, Tennessee]], and occupies much of the site of the former [[Camp Forrest]], a [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] base and [[World War II]] [[prisoner of war|POW]] camp. It is unique in that the majority of the workforce are contract personnel, with a small contingent of active-duty assigned.

"The Air Force Test Center (AFTC) started an organizational change process in 2015 to move some units within the AFTC from the 96th and 412th Test Wings over to the AEDC.<ref>{{cite web|title=704th/96th Test Group History |url=https://www.holloman.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/317262/704th96th-test-group-history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120132952/https://www.holloman.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/317262/704th96th-test-group-history/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 January 2022 |date= |access-date=2023-04-04}}</ref> The largest change [was] the renumbering of the 96th Test Group as the 704th Test Group at [[Holloman Air Force Base|Holloman AFB]], NM. AEDC ..also [gained] the [[McKinley Climatic Laboratory]] at Eglin AFB, FL, and the Hypersonic Combined Test Force at Edwards AFB, CA." The changes took effect on 1 December 2016. It was planned to align "..most of the Air Force’s developmental ground test facilities under one commander, better fiscal synergy, especially in restoration and modernization funds, better balance in the span of control, and finally results in developmental opportunities for AFTC officers."

==Lineage==
* Constituted as the '''Air Engineering Development Division''' on 27 October 1949 by the 81st Congress, Public Law 415.
: Redesignated '''Arnold Engineering Development Center''' on 7 March 1950 effective 10 February 1950, per General Order #23, signed by then Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Hoyt S. Vandenburg.
: Redesignated '''Arnold Engineering Development Complex''' on 6 July 2012

===Assignments===
* [[United States Air Force]]: 7 March 1950
* [[Air Research and Development Command]] (later Air Force Systems Command), 1 May 1951
* [[Air Force Materiel Command]], 1 July 1992 (attached to Air Force Test Center after 6 July 2012)
* [[Air Force Test Center]], 1 October 2012

===Stations===
* Arnold Air Force Station (later Arnold Air Force Base), 25 June 1951 – present

===Components===
* 704th Maintenance Group, 1 June 2006 – 30 June 2010
* 704th Mission Support Group, 1 June 2006 – 30 June 2010
* 704th Test Group, 1 June 2006 – 30 June 2010 (Arnold AFB); 1 December 2016 - onwards (Holloman AFB, NM)<ref>[https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1017126/704-test-group-afmc/ 704th Test Group (AFMC)]</ref>
* 704th Test Systems Group, 1 June 2006 – 30 June 2010
* 6560th Air Base Squadron (later 4960th Air Base Squadron, 4960th Air Base Group, 656th Support Squadron, 656th Air Base Squadron), 8 May 1951 – c. 1997

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161121191742/http://www.arnold.af.mil/Portals/49/documents/AFD-100322-069.pdf Beyond the Speed of Sound - The history of Arnold Engineering Development Complex]

===Bibliography===
{{USGovernment|url=http://www.arnold.af.mil|title=Arnold Engineering Development Center|agency=United States Air Force}}

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}

==External links==
* [https://www.arnold.af.mil/ Arnold Air Force Base] (official)
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/arnold.htm Arnold Air Force Base at GlobalSecurity.org]
* [http://www.utsi.edu/ University of Tennessee Space Institute]

{{US Air Force navbox}}
{{USAF Air Force Materiel Command}}
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[[Category:Centers of the United States Air Force]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Coffee County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1950]]
[[Category:Military Superfund sites]]
[[Category:Aeronautics organizations]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Superfund sites in Tennessee]]

Arnold Engineering Development Complex - Revision history

imported>Phoenix7119: Made a minor edit