Air Force Armament Museum

30°27′59″N 86°33′42″W / 30.46625°N 86.56154°W / 30.46625; -86.56154TypeMilitary aviation museumWebsitewww.afarmamentmuseum.com

The Air Force Armament Museum is a military aviation museum adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida, dedicated to the display of Air Force armament. It is supported by the private, non-profit Air Force Armament Museum Foundation.

History

The museum opened to the public on 22 June 1974 in a converted 1940s era chapel.^[1][2] Two years later, the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation was established with the goal of constructing a new building.^[3] The foundation faced significant public opposition in its early years driven by a referendum to appropriate county funding for the new building.^[4] After the referendum failed, the original building was condemned and the museum was forced to close in 1981.^[5][6]

A new 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) square foot building located outside the base's west gate was eventually funded entirely through private donations.^[7][6] The new museum building opened on 15 November 1985.^[8] Shortly thereafter, an exhibit on prisoners of war was inaugurated.^[9] Starting in 1990, a number of aircraft were received in quick succession, with an SR-71 arriving that year, a B-52 in 1991, and a MiG-21 in 1992.^[10][11][12] An exhibit about Air Force Special Operations Command was dedicated in 1996.^[13]

By 2007, the museum began raising funds for an educational annex.^[14] In 2019 and 2020, a P-51 and F-86 respectively were experimentally wrapped in vinyl.^[15][16] Following decades of planning, an African American Military Heritage Hall – the first of four Quonset hut styled structures – opened to the public in February 2022.^[17][18][19]

Exhibits

A wide variety of bombs, missiles, and rockets are exhibited, including the newest air-to-air missile, the AMRAAM, and the GBU-28 bunker-buster developed for use during Operation Desert Storm. Other missiles include the Paveway series, Falcons, the Tomahawk, Mace, Hound Dog, radar-controlled, laser-controlled and several guided by a TV camera in the nose. Also on display is the GBU-43 MOAB, Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or by its nickname, "Mother of All Bombs", the world's largest conventional explosive weapon. A predecessor, the T-12 Cloudmaker 38,600 lb (17,500 kg) earthquake bomb, is displayed outside, while a Fat Man casing is indoors.^[20] In addition, a BLU-82B was acquired in 2019.^[21]

A gun vault displays a variety of weapons ranging from a 1903 Springfield rifle to the GAU-8, which is capable of shooting 6,000 rounds per minute. Featured are the Sikes Antique Pistol Collection, with over 180 handguns, including flintlocks, duelling pistols, Western six-shooters, Civil War pistols, and a wide variety of early military weaponry.^{[22][failed verification]}

Programs

The museum hosts the Engineers for America education program, which involves a school classroom tour of the museum with basic engineering experiments led by teachers and volunteers.^[23][24][25]

Collection

Aircraft on display

Missiles on display

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

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