Military Power

The mission of Arnold AFB is to support the development of aerospace systems by testing hardware in facilities that simulate flight conditions. Arnold Engineering Design Center (AEDC) also conducts a research and technology program to develop advanced test techniques and instrumentation and to support the design of new test facilities. AEDC has contributed to the development of nearly every national aerospace program since the 1950s.

The center operates 53 aerodynamic and propulsion wind tunnels, rocket and turbine engine test cells, space environmental chambers, arc heaters, ballistic ranges and other specialized units. Twenty-seven of the center’s test units have capabilities unmatched elsewhere in the United States; 14 are unique in the world. The test facilities can simulate flight conditions from sea level to level to space and from subsonic speeds to well over mach 20.

Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) is the most advanced and largest complex of flight simulation test facilities in the world. The 4,000 acres that comprise AEDC are part of the 40,000 acres of Arnold Air Force Base. Dedicated June 25, 1951, by President Harry Truman, AEDC has tested virtually every high performance aero-space system the Department of Defense has used since.

The Arnold Engineering Development Center is an Air Force Materiel Command organization and an important national resource.

I've been there once. Got to see the Chicken Gun they have there. I also remember seeing one of the wind tunnels, and if I remember right, a particle accelerator.