Watch as the 412th Maintenance Group at Edwards Air Force Base delivers cutting-edge capability to the flight test enterprise, ensuring the warfighter has the equipment it needs to fly, fight and win. The 412th Maintenance Group (412 MXG) is the U.S. Air Force’s most diverse maintenance group with over 1,800 Total Force Integration (TFI) Airmen, 14 operating locations and five squadrons across Maintenance Operations, Weapons Standardization, Quality Assurance. In total, this team is responsible for 73 uniquely configured aircraft across 26 mission design series (MDS) and 20 engine variants valued at $7.9 billion for test and evaluation. (Air Force video by Blaine Torres)
Before an aircraft ever flies, before a weapon system is put through its paces in the open air, it meets reality in a quieter, more controlled setting: ground test. But don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t just about data collection. This is where design decisions live or die. Where digital theory becomes physical fact. And at the Air Force Test Center, ground test is where the digital thread starts to become anchored in reality.
