The innovative engineers and technicians at Arnold Engineering and Development Center in Tennessee developed a High Speed Fan Facility to verify the viability of the Towed Airborne Plume Simulator to test early warning sensors on military aircraft. TAPS will be carried aloft, towed behind an aircraft, but first USAF wanted to test it on the ground. AEDC journalist Philip Lorenz III reports that the center used off-the-shelf components and cannibalized ducting to construct a temporary HSFF to test TAPS on the ground.
The Air Force is spending heavily on F-22 improvements through the end of the decade, suggesting it may not retire the jet in 2030 as it previously planned. New sensors, fuel tanks, communications, and electronic warfare systems are among the upgrades that comprise the package.