The 4416th Test Squadron is an inactive provisional

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing The 363d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing (363 ISRW) is a United States Air Force unit. The wing is assigned to the United States Air Force Sixteenth Air Force, stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. The wing cond ...

, stationed at

Shaw Air Force Base Shaw Air Force Base (Shaw AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina. It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is under the jurisdict ...

, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 1 May 1970.

History

The 4416th Test Squadron undertook development work for electronic warfare components of the

EB-66 Destroyer The Douglas B-66 Destroyer is a light bomber that was designed and produced by the American aviation manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company. The B-66 was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) and is derivative of the United States N ...

. It was activated to support the growing electronic warfare effort in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. One of the many developments brought to the EB-66 fleet was the carrying of double or triple loads of ALQ-71 ECM pods under wing pylons. Throughout the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

equipment and tactics were continually updated. Because of experience gained in Southeast Asia the first change to the training syllabus was to add more night-time air refueling which had been found wanting in the theater. Inactivated in 1970 as part of the phaseout of the B-66. The Electronic Warfare mission at Shaw was taken over by the

EB-57E Canberra The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twin-engined tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1953. The B-57 is a license-built version of the British English Electric C ...

under the 16th TRS.

References

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency * 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, History, Shaw AFB, SC. Military units and formations established in 1963