Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake 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 under Commander, Navy Installations Command, and was originally known as Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS).
| 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 Location in the United States NAWS China Lake NAWS China Lake (California) | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°41′08″N 117°41′31″W | ||||||||||
| Type | Naval Air Weapons Station | ||||||||||
| Area | 1.1 million acres (450,000 hectares) (including ranges) | ||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||||
| Operator | US Navy | ||||||||||
| Controlled by | Navy Region Southwest | ||||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1935 (civilian use) | ||||||||||
| In use | 1942 – present | ||||||||||
| Events | 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes | ||||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||||
| Current commander | Captain Jeremy ‘JV’ Vaughan | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: KNID, FAA LID: NID, WMO: 746120 | ||||||||||
| Elevation | 696.1 metres (2,284 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||
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| Other airfield facilities | 1x VTOL pad | ||||||||||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration | |||||||||||
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.