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88 so u R c e s o f we a p o n sy s T e m s In n o v a T Io n In T h e depaR TmenT o f defense
The Special Weapons Center housed a wing to support the testing functions
of the AEC’s atomic proving ground—the continental test site in Nevada
and the overseas operation at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Dedicated
aircraft dropped the test weapons, gathered airborne data on the blast effects
and fallout, and tracked radioactive cloud movement. Meanwhile, scientists
and engineers employed in the Special Weapons Center’s research directorate
used this information and other data to produce analytical studies on current
and anticipated requirements in nuclear weapons capabilities. Through the
development directorate, they integrated these findings into the weapons
development programs underway in the AEC laboratories and the industrial
firms that produced the delivery systems under contract. In this capacity, the
center essentially maintained its prior role as a clearinghouse, similar to the liaison
office established in 1947. Other functions carried out by the research directorate
included studies of the hazards of nuclear warfare and the corresponding
effects on humans and the environment; analyses of the vulnerability of nuclear
weapons to countermeasures, natural disasters, and human errors; and the
compilation of data on the anticipated yields of atomic warheads currently under
development. 62
Edwards Air Force Base, located on a dry lake bed one hundred miles north
of Los Angeles, conducted initial tests of complete air weapon systems on the
first production models of combat aircraft. Originally used by commercial
airframe manufacturers in the 1920s to test new designs, the military took over
the site during World War II to serve as a secret test location for Bell Aircraft’s
P–59, the first American jet fighter. Edwards was designated a full-service flight
test center in 1951, the year it was absorbed into the new Air Research and
Development Command. The major test facilities in operation at Edwards
in the 1950s included a high-altitude speed course, precision bombing range,
photographic range to check the accuracy of new reconnaissance equipment, and
radar and tracking facilities to record flight test data.
Following the establishment of flight characteristics at the Wright Air
Development Center, production models of new aircraft were sent to Edwards to
determine operational capabilities. This function entailed rigorous flight testing
in various simulated combat conditions to match the contractor’s performance
guarantees to the operational requirements of the receiving Air Force command.
After testing at Edwards, aircraft were transferred to Eglin Air Force Base, where
they received tactical evaluation to determine combat capabilities. In cases where
aircraft subsystems experienced technical malfunctions, on-site laboratories
at Edwards were pressed into service to debug problems and overhaul critical
components. Engines, for example, were routinely removed from aircraft and
put through rigorous evaluation on test stands and other diagnostic laboratory
62 R. Hotz, “Center Mates Planes to Atom Weapons,” Aviation Week 59 (17 August 1953): 91–97;
Hotz, “Kirtland Gives USAF Nuclear Delivery,” Aviation Week 65 (6 August 1956): 151–53, 155–58,
161–63.