513th Electronic Warfare Squadron
MISSION
The mission of the 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron is to provide combat-credible mission data to the F-35 Warfighter. This requires in-depth expertise on the F-35 aircraft, intelligence analysis, mission data programming, and software development. The squadron also operates one of the premier Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) test lines to facilitate accurate mission data through verification and validation testing. The 513th EWS is responsible for producing mission data for all U.S. F-35s, including those flown by the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, making them the most lethal and survivable combat aircraft today and into the future.
MISSION STATEMENT
Provide Combat-Credible Mission Data to the F-35 Warfighter.
VISION
Lead the F-35 Fleet Toward Next Sortie Rapid Reprogramming
PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES
The 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron is made up of Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps military, civilian, and contractor personnel spread across six flights. Each flight is responsible for part of the production and fielding of mission data. Tasks include intelligence analysis, programming, lab maintenance, software development, IT support, and various other functions. All personnel directly contribute to the squadron’s ability to field the most accurate mission data possible in a timely manner.
HISTORY
The 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron was first activated during World War II as the 513th Bombardment Squadron on 31 October 1942 in Palestine. Assigned to the 376th Bombardment Group, the 513th flew B-17s and later B-24s bombers while attacking targets in northern Italy, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Germany, France and other areas of occupied Europe. After the war the unit was inactivated on 31 March 1946. On 10 August 1949, The squadron was redesignated and activated as the 513th Reconnaissance Squadron with the 308th Reconnaissance Group, but later assigned to the Air Weather Service in 1950. The 513th flew weather reconnaissance missions using modified B-29s. On 1 June 1951, the squadron was redesignated as the 513th Bombardment Squadron and moved to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. The new mission of the 513th was to conduct testing of electronics equipment, countermeasures, tactics, and techniques for Strategic Air Command. In 1954 the 513th transition from the B-29 to the B-47 and continued testing electronic warfare devices and radar tactics and techniques during simulated long range combat missions till the squadron was inactivated on 15 March 1965. The squadron was reactivated and redesignated as the 513th Test Squadron on 1 July 1986 at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, attached to Strategic Air Command’s Combat Operations Staff till it was reassigned to the USAF Air Warfare Center on 1 June 1992. During this period the 513th was reassigned to conduct operational test and evaluation of support systems for the B-52, B-1, and the KC-135 till the squadron inactivated on 31 May 1997. Finally, the squadron was redesignated and activated as the 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron on 23 April 2010 at Eglin AFB, Florida. Now assigned to the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing the 513th Leads operations at the United States Reprogramming Laboratory, in a joint enterprise between the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps to develop, test, and field combat capable mission data for the F-35.