Pax pushes the envelope

efore new aircraft types, AX PUSHES THE Bsoftware updates and weapon systems enter service with the US Navy and US Marine Corps, they must be thoroughly tested. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) is not just the largest test facility in the US, it is where test pilots are created. NTWL insight The Naval Test Wing Atlantic (NTWL) is part of NAWCAD, which is under command of the Naval Air System Command (NAVAIR). NAWCAD has four major locations: Lakehurst (NJ); Patuxent River and St Inigoes (MD); and Orlando (FL). It supports the fl eet, the entire US Department of Defense (DOD) and has an annual budget of $3.1bn. NTWL is the most technically diverse air wing in naval aviation and is the fl eet advocate, supporting test and evaluation of the Navy's principal aviation systems ranging from unmanned to rotary and fi xed-wing aircraft and subsystems. Its focus is on warfi ghter requirements, providing aircrew and aircraft assets to the wing, maintenance support, operational and safety oversight, process, and facility support for developmental fl ight and ground testing. NTWL has created a unique teaming of military, civilians, and contractors, which includes maintenance personnel, engineering services and other support services working hand-in-hand with aircrews to execute the fl ight tests. The current commodore is Col Richard E Marigliano (US Marine Corps), who explained: “We test all of the aircraft that are in the Navy and Marine Corps in some capacity at NTWL. Our military test pilots work alongside a number of civilian engineers who are integrated into the Wing as a team to advance capability and readiness of everything the Navy and Marine Corps fl ies – from tactical jets to big wing aircraft, and rotary, tiltrotor, and unmanned air systems.” He continued: “With direct integration of engineering we are able to move our workforce into and out of our smaller aircraft or weapons programs into bigger programs fl exing to meet the Navy’s evolving requirements. This enables our fl exibility as older programs taper down and new programs taper up

allowing us to move our workforce around with agility.” Deb Salamon, NTWL’s executive director, said: “Civilians support NTWL work across three divisions. The Mission Systems Test and Evaluation [T&E] evaluates aircraft systems to ensure the fi elded capability is eff ective. The Air Vehicle T&E Division makes certain we have the right envelope for the new or modifi ed aircraft ENVELOPE we are fi elding. The last division, T&E Management of Program and Operations, staff s our squadrons and provides support to program offi ces. We have test support from concept, before a contract is even created, to planning and making sure the requirements are testable. “It’s an exciting challenge ramping up talent and supportive skills sets the Navy will need to test and evaluate evolving systems and technology that make up the future of naval aviation.” Because test programs are complex, planning can be too – but it is essential. At every given time, the various squadrons conduct hundreds of T&E programs from very small tests for things like software updates to the larger T&E programs for new aircraft like the MQ-25, for example, that can take up a couple of years. Capt Elizabeth Somerville (US Navy) is currently the commanding offi cer of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) ‘Salty Dogs’, one of the Wing’s four T&E units. In August she will become the next and fi rst female NTWL commodore. She told CAJ: “Agility is one of the things Developmental test pilots from VX-23 ‘Salty Dogs’ fl y a pair of EA-18G Growlers in formation over NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. VX-23 is the Navy and Marine Corps’ dedicated test squadron for F/A-18B/C/D Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, T-45C Goshawks, and the F-35B/C Lightning II aircraft US Navy/Erik Hildebrandt

PAX FACTS

NAS Patuxent River is situated on a peninsula in St Mary’s County, Maryland and named after the nearby river. It was built in the fi rst half of the 1940s because the US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics was looking for a new location to conduct aviation test programs.

With the US Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) being the fi rst to operate from this new base in 1945, several fl ight test and other test groups soon followed and in June 1945 the Naval Air Test Center was established and became the largest tenant command at the Naval Air Station. The center evolved over the decades, becoming today’s NAWCAD. Besides being a T&E base, Pax also served as a US Navy patrol base from the 1950s until the 1970s. Several Patrol Squadrons, equipped with more than 70 Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, were stationed here until they moved to other locations. To this day, the NAWCAD has played a vital role in fl ight testing, with four naval Air Test and Evaluation Squadrons and the USNTPS.

A USNTPS T-38C takes off from NAS Patuxent River. Well over 1,000 hours are fl own on this type annually All images Northern Skies Aviation unless stated

This USNTPS fl ight instructor – one of around 30 – completes his paperwork before another mission

that enables us to build a foundation of expertise in any given area, and we are very fortunate to have this at the Wing. As we ramp up and down for various projects through the development cycle, we put our people where we need them based on their previous expertise.”

Younger engineers are teamed up with experienced colleagues so they can get that experience too. Col Marigliano explained:” We have some of our oldest platforms that we are working on for software updates, like the E-2D. On the other hand, we focus on new platforms which are coming up and being tested here, like the MQ-25A, the Presidential helicopter VH-92A, the CH-53K and the CMV-22B. There is quite a spectrum that NTWL is contributing to in the Naval Aviation Enterprise from sustaining that capability that is out there in the fl eet today and bring new capability to the fl eet for tomorrow.”

Current USNTPS Commander Jeremy ‘Silas’ DeBons, who has fl own more than 100 types of aircraft

Working with the USAF

The services in general have specifi c test centers across the country. For the Navy, developmental test is split between the two commands on opposite coasts. NAWCAD and NTWL test aircraft and subsystems on the east coast. NAWCAD’s sister command, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) also operates a developmental test wing called Naval Test Wing Pacifi c (NTWP), where it tests mission systems and weapons on the west coast. NTWP has two test squadrons, VX-30 and VX-31. Col Marigliano continued: “Generally, for us at NTWL, we are focused on new aircraft platforms, the fi rst fl ights and initial envelope development for aircraft like the CH-53K, VH-92, or MQ-25. The reason why we are distributed between two test wings is really driven by the mission.”

NTWL also works closely with the USAF in the F-35 Joint Program Offi ce (JPO), because it is a multinational integrated program. Col Marigliano added: “It really comes down to where does it make sense to conduct the tests. We always question ourselves: where is the best place to do this in the most effi cient and eff ective ways in terms of cost and value?”

Capt Somerville explained: “We have

USNTPS

Aircraft Type Aero-M UAS

C-12C

C-26A

F/A-18F

OH-58C

UH-60L

UH-72A

T-6B

T-38C T-38C

NU-1B NU-1B

U-6A

X-26A X-26A

coast while experts monitor the results of that fl ight test from across the country. The Naval Test Wing commanders and T&E engineering leadership talk on a frequent basis to fi gure out how to improve collaboration. Last but not least, the test squadrons conduct exercises where either they send aircraft or people to fl y events together and learn how aircraft co-ordinate and how the interoperability works.

Training at USNTPS

All of NTWL’s and NTWP’s squadrons need qualifi ed test pilots, fl ight offi cers and engineers. For this, the US Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), which has been stationed at NAS Patuxent River since 1945, is used. It has a particular claim to fame: of the nearly 5.000 students who have graduated in all those years almost 100 of them have become astronauts. The current commanding offi cer is CDR Jeremy DeBons. The USNTPS skipper was the fi rst commanding offi cer to graduate in 2010 at EPNER, the Test Pilot School in France, and because the whole academic course is in French, he had to learn the language in a short time. During his career, he has fl own over 100 diff erent types of aircraft and built up more than 4,500 fl ying hours. CDR DeBons recalled: “Flying each of the 100-plus types of aircraft was memorable, but fl ying the U-2 from Beale AFB, the Japanese ShinMaywa US-2 fl ying boat, and the French Rafale are some I won’t forget.”

Aircraft Type MQ-8B/C

MQ-25A

RQ-21

RQ-23

RQ-26

Below: The CMV-22B is the replacement for the Navy’s C-2A Greyhound aircraft. This variant of the tiltrotor has already entered service with VRM-30 ‘Titans’

STRONG ALLIANCE

Besides VX-23 and HX-21, the NTWL has two additional test and evaluation squadrons, VX-20 and UX-24. Throughout its history, VX-20 has supported the fleet through the full test and evaluation spectrum of scouting (VS), patrol (VP), carrier airborne early warning (VAW), fleet logistics support (VRC), electronic countermeasures (VQ), fleet tactical support (VR), patrol special unit (VUP), Marine aerial refueler transport (VMGR) and training (VT) community aircraft. VX-20 also provides aerial refuelling for the F-35 Lightning II, MV-22 Osprey and F/A-18E-F Super Hornet aircraft and safety/chase support aircraft for other platforms assigned to NTWL. Formerly the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Directorate, UX-24 is the Navy’s newest test squadron and the only dedicated UAS test unit. Located at NAS Patuxent River’s Webster Outlying Field in St Inigoes, Maryland, the squadron takes advantage of the command’s unique facilities which include two 5,000ft runways, direct entry into restricted operating areas with no Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) coordination needed, exclusive-use areas available for small UAS’s, proximity to water for UAS maritime operations, and a dedicated UAS operations center. With these four test and evaluation squadrons NTWL conducts hundreds of test and evaluation programs each year.

Col Marigliano added:” It’s great to see how our engineering workforce moves in and out of diff erent programs to bring – and gain – experience to those teams. We are putting our best and brightest from the enterprise on those programs to do the work and get the capability to the fl eet as quickly and as eff ectively as we can.”

Col Marigliano’s assignment is coming to an end and he refl ects on the objectives he set before becoming the commander of NTWL. “We have accomplished many of my goals and established new ones that I could not have anticipated,” he said. He is proud of leading the Wing through a large command reorganization just as he became NTWL commodore. Before this, fl ight test engineering was separate from the Wing command structure and the changes meant he could fi nally see the true merger/ integration of the most impactful teaming in fl ight test – the military project offi cer and the civilian project engineer – the hallmark of fl ight test success.

What he didn’t expect was working in the COVID environment over the last two years. During that time the fl ight test couldn’t stop working through that was challenging but rewarding to see what was accomplished during the diffi cult period.

Col Marigliano added: “I enjoyed this tour it felt like the culmination of my career as an aviator providing me the opportunity to contribute to the larger Naval Aviation Enterprise and serve with such a large, diverse group of dedicated people. It has truly been a rewarding experience for me and a great way to end my military career.”

One year ago, Deb Salamon became the fi rst-ever female civilian executive director and in August Col Marigliano will turn over his command to Capt Somerville. She and Deb Salamon will become the fi rst-ever all female NTWL leadership team.

One of the helicopters tested at HX-21, the largest rotary test squadron, is this MH-60R

Each January and July a new class (36 students per class) starts training at NAS Patuxent River, so the intake can graduate after 11 months. Because the best of the best are selected, the drop out fi gure is very low. Every USNTPS class is a diverse mix of pilots, fl ight offi cers and engineers across the US military services including international students.

The school’s ‘air three curricula’ includes Fixed Wing (pilot/engineer), Rotary Wing (pilot/engineer) and Airborne/ Unmanned Systems (NFO/engineer). Every student accomplishes 530 academic hours and 120 fl ight hours. For this, USNTPS has a workforce of instructors and maintainers, all of which are contractors. The maintainer contracts are dedicated to the US Army C-12, the C-26, the H-72, and a fourth contractor is for the rest. Around 30 fl ight instructors, 10-15 academic instructors and 20 support staff make up the rest of the USNTPS. The school has 13 diff erent types of aircraft and a total of 48 airframes, which also include unmanned systems. The oldest aircraft within the USN, the U-6A Beaver, is also part of the inventory.

CDR DeBons added: “Probably the fi rst aircraft to be phased out here will be the T-38C, which will happen around 20302035. We have started the replacement discussion, but we’re still considering our options. As we modernize our curriculum, we may need more than one new type of aircraft or a training system that looks completely diff erent.”

The USNTPS has a strong partnership with three other test pilot schools: the USAF Test Pilot School (USAFTPS) at Edwards AFB; the Empire Test Pilot School (ETPS) at MOD Boscombe Down, UK; and the École du Personnel Navigant d’Essais et de Réception (EPNER) in France. CDR DeBons added: “Flight test in general is a team eff ort and no one of us can do any of this by our self. Collaborating with other schools gives the test community its greatest strength: diversity of experience as our testers fl y and familiarize themselves with diff erent platforms.”

The USNTPS has a strong partnership with 17 countries. During the last 75 years, USNTPS has changed a lot. What originally started as an eight-week course changed to an 11-month syllabus in 1973. The last decade saw some major changes with the acquisition of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) platforms in 2014 and the introduction of the Airborne Systems Training and Research Support (ASTARS) III laboratory in 2018. This system was built into the C-26A Metroliner.

CDR DeBons added: “The H-72 is our newest aircraft and great to have. We are about to put FLIR systems on them so we can have more airborne sensor systems on this type of helicopter.” This will make the H-72A the only helicopter type at USNTPS equipped with a FLIR system. Once USNTPS pilots under instruction graduate, they move on to become test pilots at developmental or experimental test squadrons where they are assigned specifi c projects or platforms to advance through testing to deliver to the fl eet. This

VX-20

Aircraft Type C-2A C-12B C-38A C/KC-130J E-2C/D E-6B P-8A MQ-4C T-6A

Below: Testing on the T-45C Goshawk is done at VX-23. Here one of their test pilots is about to start his next mission

A developmental test pilot from VX-23 ‘Salty Dogs’ flies a weaponized F/A-18F over NAS Patuxent River. Weapons separation testing can be risky but is critical to ensuring weapons safely separate from their delivering aircraft as designed US Navy/Erik Hildebrandt

counts for the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Air Force. CDR. DeBons concluded: “I love it here. It’s the best job in the world and it's the best squadron in the Navy.”

VX-23 testers

Test programs for USN and USMC jet aircraft are executed by NTWL’s VX-23. As commanding officer, Capt Somerville is responsible for the unit’s flight testing and evaluation of the legacy F/A-18C/D Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, F-35B/C Lightning II, T-45C Goshawk and MQ-25A Stingray.

Capt Somerville explained: “We do flight testing of the aircraft themselves when they are under development and through sustainment. We do testing on software upgrades for every model as well as weapons integration.”

This includes all the new weapons developed or existing weapons that are getting upgrades. Currently, VX-23 is working on Block III Super Hornet flight tests as well as the next-generation jammer for the Growler, which is a major program now. Another big joint program with the USN, USMC, USAF and multiple

Above: A developmental test pilot from VX-23 ‘Salty Dogs’ participates in a training simulation conducting a virtual landing of a F-35B aboard the Italian Navy aircraft carrier, ITS Cavour (550), at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Manned Flight Simulator located at command headquarters at NAS Patuxent River US Navy/Kyra Helwick

Right: Developmental test pilots from HX-21 ‘Blackjack’, the Navy and Marine Corps’ dedicated test squadron for rotary and tiltrotor aircraft, fly most of its type/models/ series in formation over Solomons Island, located near NAS Patuxent River US Navy/Erik Hildebrandt international partners is the F-35 on aeromechanical software advancements and weapons integration testing.

He added: “The challenges associated with this squadron are that we have at any given time 200 projects actively working. With all the different types of aircraft, this blossoms in complexity.”

The squadron is organized in a couple of different departments, some along a typical type or aircraft model. There is an F/A-18, EA-18G, T-45, F-35, Airborne Electronic Attack, and MQ-25 department. Then there are a couple departments that are not type or model specific such as the carrier suitability department and mission systems department.

Those departments are led by a military department head, each with a civilian counterpart, which is one of the strengths of Navy flight testing. With their knowledge and experience they are working hand in hand to make each program successful.

Capt Somerville said: “A big new program is the MQ-25A Stingray. For the first time we are going to integrate an unmanned platform into a Carrier Air Wing [CVW] with the Stingray. The MQ-25A program was aligned with VX-23 because of the squadron’s carrier suitability mission set and its air refuelling expertise.”

For this program, the squadron will have a dedicated MQ-25A hangar where the squadron will work hand in hand with other experts across the Wing including NTWL’s UX-24, which is the unmanned aircraft test squadron. At the moment, approximately 100 people are integrated in this test program and this will grow up to several hundred by the time the MQ-25A Stingray enters operational testing.

Capt Somerville continued: “This Stingray program is truly a Wing-wide effort to make it a successful integrated tanker for the Navy’s Air Wing.”

The MQ-25A Stingray was developed by Boeing as an unmanned aerial refuelling system and was a result of the Carrier Based Aerial Refuelling System (CBARS) program, which in turn came from an earlier program called Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UNCLASS). The need for a carrier refuelling aircraft is important to support the Super Hornet fl eet’s operational reach. The fi rst aircraft fl ew on September 19, 2019 and the USN has ordered 72. Within the next few years this platform should be integrated to the fl eet.

HX-21 developments

The squadron responsible for developmental fl ight testing and evaluation of rotary-wing and tilt-rotor aircraft and their associated airborne sensors and weapons systems for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard is HX-21. Former commanding offi cer, CDR Daniel Short, is now the military director at Defense Contract Management Agency – Sikorsky in Stratford, Connecticut. After graduating USNTPS, he reported to HX-21 for the fi rst time in 2008, serving as an MH-60R/S and H-60F/H developmental test pilot. After an operational tour with HS-4 he returned to NTWL as an instructor at USNTPS in 2014. In 2016, he returned to HX-21 as the MH-60 Government Flight Test Director (GFTD) and was honored to lead the largest helicopter developmental test program in the DOD as CH-53K GFTD. During this tour, he became the fi rst Navy pilot to fl y the CH-53K.

He said: “The thing I love about this squadron is that we have such a dynamic group of people who turn the unknown into the known through fl ight testing. Working with military offi cers, test pilots, and fl ight engineers who collaborate with industry and our contract maintainers all working towards one goal is both a big challenge and our greatest strength.”

HX-21 is the only rotary test and evaluation squadron in the USN fl ying about ten types of aircraft.

CDR Short added: “We have a philosophy here that we emphasize a lot with our project offi cers and engineers. It’s a teaming we call POPE for short. For everything we do at every level of the squadron we have that team.”

Each department operates a specifi c type of aircraft, such as the MH-60 or CH-53. The squadron is now working on the mission upgrade for the USN H-60 in order to maintain the cutting edge on the battlefi eld. Software sensor updates are done on a regular basis for both the Romeo (R) and Sierra (S) models. Similar updates are also performed on the USMC AH-1 helicopters. Recently HX-21 completed Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) testing for the AH-1Z, which was then declared for Initial Operational Capability (IOC).

The goal is always to get things to the fl eet faster. In this case, HX-21 worked closely with their operational test agency and weapons developers to fl y some of those fl ights together and do those missile shots together.

One of the most critical things in preparing for fl ight testing is building the team. Which organisations should be part of the team and which expertise is needed? CDR Short continued: “In the CMV-22B program we did that very well. During the fi rst fl ight, which took place in December 2020, we had a contractor test pilot from the manufacturer with one of our own test pilots. A year later, the IOC for the CMV-22 was declared and it’s now already in service with VRM-30.”

That is what HX-21 strives for: to develop an aircraft through the testing phase and do it quickly. CDR Short said: “We are not just testing, we are doing the developing. The further left we can get in the process, the more we can infl uence it so the fl eet gets what they need on the timeline they need.” For this, the squadron strives to provide the highest quality evaluation and reporting in support of an aircraft or system’s program managers and, ultimately, the fl eet warfi ghters.

Aircraft Type F/A-18B

F/A-18C

F/A-18D

F/A-18E

F/A-18F

EA-18G

F-35B/C

T-45C

Left: Developmental test pilots from VX-20 ‘Force’ and VX-23 ‘Salty Dogs’ partner to conduct aerial refueling during a fl ight test over southern Maryland. Pilots from VX-20 fl y a KC-130T to refuel an F-35B alongside an F/A-18F US Navy/Kyra Helwick Below: Developmental test pilots from VX-20 ‘Force’ fl y a C-2 Greyhound during the aircraft’s fi nal fl ight with the unit over southern Maryland. The Navy is retiring the C-2 Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft and replacing it with the CMV-22B Osprey US Navy/Erik Hildebrandt