461st Flight Test Squadron

461st Flight Test Squadron
An F-35 Lightning II, marked AA-1, lands at Edwards Air Force Base
Active	12 December 1942 – Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Squadron
Role	Flight Testing
Part of	Air Force Materiel Command
Garrison/HQ	Edwards Air Force Base, California
Motto(s)	Caveant Caelum Nostrum Latin Beware, Our Sky
Engagements	Operation Market Garden
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
461st Flight Test Squadron emblem (approved 27 August 1957)[1]
unofficial 361st Fighter Squadron emblem prior to 1945[2][3]
World War II Squadron Fuselage Code	QI
412th Wing Tail Code	ED
Aircraft flown
Fighter	F-35 Lightning II

The 461st Flight Test Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron, assigned to the 412th Operations Group of Air Force Materiel Command, and is stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The Squadron performs flight testing on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.

The squadron's origins can be traced to the 361st Fighter Squadron, which flew combat in the European Theater of Operations, where it won a Distinguished Unit Citation before inactivating in 1945.

In 1985, the 361st Squadron was consolidated with the 461st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron. The 461st had been activated in 1956 as the 461st Fighter-Day Squadron and served as a fighter unit in Europe until 1959. It served as a training unit in Arizona starting in 1977. The consolidated unit was inactivated in 1994, but was activated again in its current role in 2006.