VX-9
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Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (''AIRTEVRON NINE'', VX-9, nicknamed ''The Vampires'') is a
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
air test and evaluation squadron based at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California. Using the tail code ''XE'', the squadron operates numerous aircraft and helicopters of the United States Navy and
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
.


History

Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9), originally Air Development Squadron Five (VX-5), was commissioned on June 18, 1951 at
Naval Air Station Moffett Field Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County, California, United States, between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale. On November 10, ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, with 15 officers, 100 enlisted men, and nine
AD Skyraider The Douglas A-1 Skyraider (formerly known as the AD Skyraider) is an American single-seat attack aircraft in service from 1946 to the early 1980s. The Skyraider had an unusually long career, remaining in front-line service well into the Jet Age ...
aircraft. The squadron was under the operational control of Operational Development Force (now Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force), was assigned to develop and evaluate aircraft tactics and techniques for delivery of airborne special weapons. In the 1970s, the squadron was renamed Air Test and Evaluation Squadron FIVE, but retained its VX-5 designation. Over the years, VX-5 has maintained numerous detachments around the U.S. to take full advantage of the variety and diversity of facilities available, and to help keep the Squadron abreast of the latest fleet tactics. These detachments have included
NAS Oceana Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mill ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
;
Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility The Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility (NWEF) operated through the Cold War investigating aircraft-weapon interfaces to provide United States Navy aircraft with nuclear weapons delivery capability. History The United States Army Air Corps began ...
at
Kirtland AFB Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Ro ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
;
NAS Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington. The main portion of the base, Ault Field, is about ...
,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
; and the former NAS Sanford,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. In July 1956 VX-5 moved to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, as an independent tenant command because of the availability of vastly improved ranges and instrumentation facilities. In January 1985, the VX-5 Detachment at Whidbey Island, which oversaw developments relating to the
EA-6B The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United ...
weapon system, was relocated to China Lake. Since then, temporary detachments have been made nationwide from
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
to Florida, as required to test airborne weapons in a variety of conditions. The squadron has, due to changes and improvements in Navy weapon system, evolved over the years to include independent operation test and evaluation of all air-dropped munitions destined for operational use of the US Navy and US Marine Corps as well as development of tactics to be used with the new weapon system, and incorporation of electronic warfare advances into the self-defense capability of attack aircraft. In June 1993, the Chief of Naval Operations directed that the naval fighter aircraft community's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four
VX-4 VX-4, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four, (''AIRTEVRON FOUR''), commonly referred to by its nickname, ''The Evaluators'', was a United States Navy air test and evaluation squadron based at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California. Their tail c ...
at
NAS Point Mugu Naval Air Station Point Mugu was a United States naval air station near Oxnard, California, which operated as an independent base from 1941 to 2000, when it merged with nearby Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme to form Naval Base V ...
, California and VX-5 to be merged into a single operational test and evaluation squadron to be designated as VX-9, with a permanent
F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...
Detachment to be located at Point Mugu. This initiative was launched as part of the reductions of U.S naval forces in the aftermath of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.


Current operations

Today, VX-9 has approximately 61 officers, 290 enlisted personnel, and 12 aircraft at NAS China Lake including: the
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more ad ...
and the
EA-18G Growler The Boeing EA-18G Growler is an American carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, a specialized version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet. The EA-18G replaced the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowlers in service with the United States Navy. ...
. Until the retirement of the
F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...
, the unit also had 4 F-14As, 3 F-14Bs and 4 F-14Ds at NAS Point Mugu. Although the Point Mugu detachment has ceased operations, a new VX-9 detachment has since been established at
Edwards AFB Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is Ed ...
, California for the
F-35C Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...
. Typically, aircrews are qualified in more than one of these aircraft types, which increases their versatility and provides a broader base of expertise that can be applied to each project. VX-9's mission has grown to include the operational evaluation of attack, fighter, and electronic warfare aircraft, weapons systems and equipment, and to develop tactical procedures for their employment. As for
chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...
, operationally, VX-9 reports to Commander,
Operational Test and Evaluation Force The Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) serves as an independent and objective agency within the United States Navy for the operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) of naval aviation, surface warfare, submarine warfare, C4I, crypt ...
(COMOPTEVFOR) and administratively to Commander, U.S. Naval Air Force, Pacific Fleet (COMNAVAIRPAC).


See also

*
History of the United States Navy The history of the United States Navy divides into two major periods: the "Old Navy", a small but respected force of sailing ships that was notable for innovation in the use of ironclads during the American Civil War, and the "New Navy" the ...
*
List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons This is a list of active United States Navy aircraft squadrons. ''Deactivated'' or ''disestablished'' squadrons are listed in the List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons. Navy aircraft squadron (aviation), squadrons are composed of ...


References


VX-9 History


External links


VX-9 Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vx-9 Test squadrons of the United States Navy Military units and formations in California