VX-9 Vampires F-14 Tailflash

VX-9 Vampires F-14 TailflashFly with the Vampires of VX-9 with this handcrafted F-14 tail! 20 inchesAir 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, California, with 15 officers, 100 enlisted men, and nine AD Skyraider 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, Virginia; Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico; NAS Whidbey Island, Washington; and the former NAS Sanford, Florida.VX-9 F/A-18F Super Hornet over the Owens Lake in the vast Eastern High Sierra and Mojave Desert test ranges. In July 1956 VX-5 moved to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, 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 weapon system, was relocated to China Lake. Since then, temporary detachments have been made nationwide from Alaska 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 devel

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