explains Som erville. ‘They are the block
upgrades and [account for] a considerable
portion of our work here.’
Each SCS wraps up a host of di erent
elements, many of which are based on
feedback from the eld and developing
capabilities. ‘Those are developed and
bundled into a SCS,’ Somerville says. ‘That
testing goes on extensively on a rotating
cycle. Per type, we usually have two SCS in
development at any time.’External loads testing
China Lake is synonymous with weapons
work. This has evolved mainly due to the
ranges here, as well as the Paci c Missile
Test Range near NBVC Point Mugu, which
was previously home to the air-to-air
weapons development test squadron.
However, this was rationalized under
VX-31 once the F-14 Tomcat was retired. A
new weapon or an upgrade to an existing
weapon will reside rmly with VX-31. With
a wide variety of weapons in the eet, this
area is signi cant for the ‘Dust Devils’.
‘We are continuously upgrading and
testing weapons such as the AGM-88
High Speed Anti Radiation Missile [HARM],
AGM-88E Advanced Anti-RadiationGuided Missile [AARGM], Joint Direct
Attack Munition [JDAM}, AGM-154 Joint
Stand-O Weapon [JSOW], AGM-158
Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-o Missile
[JASSM], AGM-84 Harpoon, laser-guided
bombs, AIM-120 Advanced Medium-
Range Air-to-Air Missile [AMRAAM] and
AIM-9X’, describes Somerville. ‘What’s
more, upgrading and testing mission
systems such as radars, electronic warfare
systems and FLIRs [forward-looking infra-
red] is also ongoing.’
She adds, ‘The eet is given a NATIP
[naval aviation and technical information
program], which dictates what load-outs
the eet is allowed to put on its aircraft.’
This involves loads compatibility and
con gurations, such as mixed loads or
increased load volumes. ‘We work in
conjunction with our east coast test
squadron, VX-23. They run the actual
weapon separation testing, and we do
weapons assessment testing. Does it hit
where it is supposed to hit? Does it talk
to the airplane as it is supposed to, and
things like that. Then we go out and make
sure that particular load-out doesn’t
overload the electrical capabilities of the
aircraft or the databuses.’Of course, much of this developmental
test work is conducted hand-in-hand with
industry and the prime contractors on the
speci c bits of kit. ‘They design and build
the weapon [system] and when it arrives
here we take it airborne. At that stage
we are already familiar with the weapon
because we are involved from the very
beginning of the development, from the
de nition of requirements level to the
testing in ight,’ says Somerville.
‘Modern weapons are incredibly
complex systems. We have very smart
people in the navy who write the
speci cations,’ she says, noting that
writing a speci cation and throwing it
over the fence to the contractor is no
longer accepted practice. ‘There would
be signi cant rework to do for us. The
advantage of walking the development
path in partnership with the prime
contractor early on in the design stage is
that you do nd things that don’t work or
that can be better.’
This process usually alleviates major
issues further down the line. Working
practice simply doesn’t allow a lengthyTop left: Weapons
testing accounts
for a large
portion of VX-31’s
activities, as well
as the integration
of new software
loads. NAVAIR
Right: CDR
Elizabeth
Somerville,
commanding
offi cer of VX-31.
Gert Kromhout
Below: The
centennial of US
naval aviation in
2011 saw VX-31
F/A-18C BuNo
165210 being
painted in a retro
test scheme.
NAVAIRUNIT REPORT // VX-31 ‘DUST DEVILS’
72 October 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net