Eastern Kern is expected to benefit economically from a new, state-of-the-art engineering lab expected to improve the area’s workforce training capabilities along with U.S. military readiness at Edwards Air Force Base. The U.S. Air Force announced Thursday its new Flight Test Engineering Lab opened late last year after a series of delays and contract modifications that pushed back its debut by eight months and raised its price tag 13.6% to reach $41.35 million.
The Air Force said in a news release the lab was designed to improve the testing and integration of critical systems, specifically in electro optics/infrared sensors and long-range cyber-warfare data link capabilities. The installation will also help the Air Force develop what it described as digital twin tools accelerating creation of future combat capabilities, it said.
“As military technology continues to evolve, the FTEL stands as a critical hub for the next generation of weapons and systems, paving the way for the development of more effective, adaptable tools to safeguard national security,” it said in the release.
A senior official at the base, Paul Waters, director of the 412th Test Engineering Group, emphasized the lab’s importance in helping meet the evolving needs of the U.S. military. He said its development and testing capabilities will help the base enhance the accuracy of sensors, improve data communication and integrate flight test data with advanced modeling and simulation.
“These tools will not only accelerate our development processes but also help us stay ahead of rapidly advancing global threats,” he stated in the release.
“By refining advanced sensors, data links and validated models, we are preparing our forces for an increasingly complex global security environment,” he added.
The Air Force plans to leverage the FTEL’s capabilities to “accelerate the training and development of our workforce,” Waters stated.
“Three state-of-the-art training rooms allow us to accelerate the development (of) our young engineers,” Waters added.
Eastern Kern has scored several economic successes in recent years. The most recent is a $2 million partnership paid for by Congress to establish an aerospace innovation hub intended to smooth the flow of technology developed at Edwards and China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station to local industry.