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Upside Down Air Force

frontiernet.net

104 pointsstevage17 comments

I'm a current DoD contractor employee at Griffiss, and it's a real trip to see just how much cool stuff is/was being done at the base when it was still active. There is still cool research being done but nothing at this scope for a while now. It makes me kind of sad to see all of this activity being sent away from NY to Cali, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, etc. Not a whole lot of large-scale testing/development going on up here nowadays. Getting stories from the old timers is always fun, though.

FUN FACT: This is the same base Woodstock '99 took place at :D

There (was) also ATLAS-I or "Trestle" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS-I ) at Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico to park airplanes onto for EMP testing. The largest non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse generator in the world.

See it ( https://www.google.com/maps/place/35°01'47.3"N+106°33'27.6"W... )

And then pan around and marvel at all the other weird shit out there in the desert.

Sandia National Laboratories Tech Area V: https://maps.app.goo.gl/WWjnzFfi1yLrhC4RA (which is various nuclear stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=valvf2yoVvU)

The USAF Safety Crash Lab, surrounded by bits of broken planes: https://maps.app.goo.gl/M4EUYP9syfvXw3DH6

A lot of recreational vehicles: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kFyVCbYYSSP6JL8C6

National Solar Thermal Test Facility: https://maps.app.goo.gl/14zygVRtw76VQ3QQ9

Sandia Water Impact Facility (big diving pool): https://maps.app.goo.gl/TknLAuHmkW2egnXX7

Starfire Optical Range (big lasers): https://maps.app.goo.gl/5gyXwYcHAPFBUVZM8

A long thing (rocket sled track?): https://maps.app.goo.gl/1JPXWJC1XBQtcFwv9

Definitely a rocket sled track: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nwrDBbqqy8NjRtnPA

Antenna towers?: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JXrmSBhhizGHGroJ6

Ramp down to where they keep the nukes: https://maps.app.goo.gl/R2vkRG9PWg6HE6mw8

Buried hangars (there's a large hilly area enclosed by a fence with these all over it): https://maps.app.goo.gl/sbP1C3ZgeQvFY7mk8

Burrito: https://maps.app.goo.gl/KaqonStYX37P8YLw6

No idea, but it's up a track from a live fire training range: https://maps.app.goo.gl/64RxsGgzVVaL6AsM6

Lovelace Biomedical Research (NOT AT ALL SUSPECT): https://maps.app.goo.gl/BrJRXwA6xKwi1e8v6

Besides all this stuff, New Mexico is just an absolutely breathtaking state in terms of its natural beauty. I highly recommend a visit!

We are all so lucky that the EMP-hardening has not been needed.

Hearsay: one guy was too close to it when it went off and discovered he'd killed his digital watch.

Discussions on similar submissions:

The USAF's "Upside-Down Air Force" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40544829 (June 1, 2024 — 84 points, 14 comments)

I used to work at AFRL as an intern and a contractor, there were pictures of these platforms in a bunch of the buildings. I also played in a golf league in Newport NY. You could see the platform from a few of the holes.

> Instead of flying the aircraft over test antennae, the airframes (usually minus their tails) are suspended upside-down, under or near the instrumentation.

Why not make a hole in the ground and put the antennae under the airplane that way?

Because then the interesting electronic emissions would be radiating into the ground, not to nearby test equipment.

I was intending to put the test equipment in the hole.

Since "flying over test antennae" was an option, it shouldn't be a problem that there's solid ground (the bottom of the hole) underneath the test equipment.

I think the real answer is that they need more angles than keeping the aircraft flat and level and putting the antennae below it would provide. The aircraft have to be suspended anyway, so they can be rotated and have different profiles measured.

The ground lining the hole would also reflect or absorb electromagnetic waves differently than air.

I think the intention is to radiate into the ground, not into the sky, where spy satellites can possibly sense the stray emissions.

thought this was about the airforce of a newly created republic called upside down

"I was inverted"

"Uh, Lieutenant. What were you doing there?"

"Communicating."

"This must be the full-service island"

I'm dead. For that to be one of the only captions, I'm just glad I wasn't taking a sip when I read it.

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