Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Armitage Field
Ridgecrest, California in United States
An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to VX-9 returns to its home at NAWS China Lake
NAWS China Lake is located in the United States
NAWS China Lake
NAWS China Lake
Location in the United States
NAWS China Lake is located in California
NAWS China Lake
NAWS China Lake
NAWS China Lake (California)
Coordinates35°41′08″N 117°41′31″W / 35.68556°N 117.69194°W / 35.68556; -117.69194
TypeNaval Air Weapons Station
Area1.1 million acres (450,000 hectares) (including ranges)
Site information
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUS Navy
Controlled byNavy Region Southwest
ConditionOperational
WebsiteOfficial website
Site history
Built1935 (1935) (civilian use)
In use1942 – present
Events2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes
Garrison information
Current
commander
Captain Warren ‘Rabbit’ Van Allen
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO: KNID, FAA LID: NID, WMO: 746120
Elevation696.1 metres (2,284 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
03/21 3,048.3 metres (10,001 ft) Concrete
14/32 2,747.1 metres (9,013 ft) Asphalt
08/26 2,167.4 metres (7,111 ft) Concrete
Other airfield
facilities
1x VTOL pad
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]
Indian Wells Valley, showing Ridgecrest, California and the China Lake area

Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake[2] is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest[3] under Commander, Navy Installations Command, and was originally known as Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS).[4]

The installation is located in the Western Mojave Desert region of California, approximately 150 miles (240 km) north of Los Angeles. Occupying land in three counties – Kern, San Bernardino, and Inyo – the installation's closest neighbors are the city of Ridgecrest and the communities of Inyokern, Trona, and Darwin.

China Lake is the United States Navy's largest single landholding, representing 85% of the Navy's land for weapons and armaments research, development, acquisition, testing, and evaluation (RDAT&E) use and 38% of the Navy's land holdings worldwide. In total, its two ranges and main site cover more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2), an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. As of 2010, at least 95% of that land is undeveloped. The roughly $3 billion infrastructure of the installation consists of 2,132 buildings and facilities, 329 miles (529 km) of paved roads, and 1,801 miles (2,898 km) of unpaved roads.

The 19,600 square miles (51,000 km2) of restricted and controlled airspace at China Lake makes up 12% of California's total airspace. Jointly controlled by NAWS China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base and Fort Irwin, this airspace is known as the R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex.

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake on July 5, 2019, whose epicenter was within the boundaries of NAWS China Lake, resulted in the facility being temporarily evaluated as "not mission capable" due to damage.[5]

  1. ^ FAA Airport Form 5010 for NID PDF
  2. ^ "Welcome to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake". Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. United States Navy Commander, Navy Installations Command. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  3. ^ Commander, Navy Region Southwest
  4. ^ "Record broken by land sled". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 27, 1955. p. 1.
  5. ^ Salahieh, Nouran (July 6, 2019). "Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in Ridgecrest Evacuated, Deemed Not 'Mission Capable' After Quake". KTLA. Retrieved July 7, 2019.