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413th FLIGHT TEST SQUADRON

The 413th Test Squadron was designated and activated on October 2, 1992, when it was formed out of the disbanded 6513th Red Hats Test Squadron. The Red Hats had conducted flight testing of purloined Soviet MiGs and other aircraft at Groom Lake. In March 1994, the unit became the 413th Flight Test Squadron, nicknamed the "Bombcats."

Based at a restricted section of Edwards Air Force Base called "North Base," the mission of the 413th was to organize flight tests of Electronic Warfare systems around the world. A detachment of the 413th, called the "Nutcrackers," continued to operate out of Groom Lake and the Tonopah Test Range. Daily flights in unmarked Beech aircraft shuttled members of the 413th to the secret bases each day.

The 413th was responsible for a number of programs; code names included SUNDOWNER, ZIPPER, and IBIS DAWN. In May of 2004, the squadron was deactivated (although the unit designation was later transferred to a squadron formed from a detachment of the 46th Operations Group at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida). The remaining "Bombcats" assets became part of the Electronic Warfare Directorate, also headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base.

PROJECT ZIPPER, WE MAKE THREATS NOT PROMISES

This patch represents an unknown project undertaken by the 413th Flight Test Squadron The zipper seems to refer to the fact that the project cannot be discussed. The first part of the phrase "We make threats" might refer to making simulated (or real) electronic "threats" against aircraft.

NUTCRACKERS

"Nutcrackers" was an alter ego of the 413th Flight Test Squadron referring to detachments operating at classified locations that included Groom Lake and the Tonopah Test Range. The collection of 4+1+3 stars on the left side of the patch refers to the 413th Flight Test Squadron. The crow and the lightning bolts symbolize the unit's electronic warfare mission.

EW DIRECTORATE, TESTUM PONTUS VERATIS

The Electronic Warfare Directorate is the primary EW test organization at Edwards Air Force Base.

Electronic warfare consists of defensive and offensive avionics and includes the so-called "Infowar" revolution in military technologies. Commenting on information warfare, Air Force Chief of Staff John Jumper told Aviation Week and Space Technology that "we're rapidly approaching the time when you can tell an SA-10's [surface-to-air missile system] radar that it's a Maytag washer and put it in the rinse cycle instead of the firing cycle."

EWAH

This patch is worn by people working for a unit descended from the 413th Flight Test Squadron. Elements of the former 413th FLTS became a part of the EW Directorate known by its organization code EWAH. Located at North Base at Edwards, EWAH has its own commanding officer who reports directly to the EW Directorate.

The collection of 5+1 stars recalls the nickname Area 51, the Air Force's classified "operating location" at Groom Lake.

KILLER WHALE, DETERRITUM PER TESTANDUM SUPRA TERRAM

"Killer Whale" was a nickname for the AGM-137 Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile, also known as TSSAM, which was a 1980s project to develop a stealth cruise missile. The name "Killer Whale" has a somewhat complicated history. In the early 1980s, Northrop developed a stealthy prototype aircraft codenamed "TACIT BLUE," which pioneered the use of rounded shapes for stealth aircraft. Because of the plane's unusual shape, it became known as the "Whale" or "Shamu," and the Northrop crews working on the project at Groom Lake became known as "whalers." After TACIT BLUE, which was unarmed, proved that this stealth technology was effective, Northrop began work on the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile, which was a variation on the TACIT BLUE design, and resembled the unusually-shaped stealth aircraft. Thus, while the unarmed TACIT BLUE was known as the "Whale," its cruise missile cousin became known as the "Killer Whale." The Latin phrase "Deterritum Per Testandum Supra Terram" is hard to decipher. The words vaguely translate as "Deterrence/Through/Witness/Above/Earth. Members of the test team choose to interpret it loosely as "Deterrence Through Flight Test."

RODEO GAL, 716, 526

This patch was worn by DC-130 flight crews responsible for testing the TSSAM cruise missile (also known as the Killer Whale). The numbers 716 and 526 refer to the pair of DC-130s used as control aircraft for the unmanned test articles.

TSSAM

Because the acronym for the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM) recalled the "Tasmanian Devil" cartoon character, the tornado-like image of the character in motion came to represent the classified cruise missile.