NAWS China Lake – Northwest Annex Mystery

a reply to: Zaphod58
The point is, you dont need to set up satcom next to the runway you are flying the UAV out off. You can do it from anywhere, like with the X-47 for example. You also dont need to built up launching facilities from scratch for some run of the mill UAV program. You can have them flying from pretty much anywhere with enough unused capacity.
I think setting up a new secluded, separate facility next to your main RDT&E base when you literally have dozen upon dozens of airfields available to you points to something more covert than the publicly known small time UAV programs.
Which was the point of this thread.

a reply to: mightmight

Exactly, it's the main Navy RDT&E base. No, they don't HAVE to put the dish right there, but if it was something operational they wouldn't have. By putting everything there it lets the crews get their hands on the platform and watch it fly, as well as the maintenance crew be right there to watch as they fly, to see how that goes.

Fairly early testing tends to be pretty hands on and keeps everything pretty close together. Once they stretch the envelope they'll start spreading out. This is almost certainly something fairly early in testing that they want to test where they have plenty of telemetry available to watch things in action.

Be a good size runway for small scale demonstrators...Most of the B29 survivors have come out of China Lake.

Its not a active runway.

If you look at the ends what looks like a runway has Xs painted on it not numbers.

originally posted by: ANNED
Its not a active runway.

If you look at the ends what looks like a runway has Xs painted on it not numbers.

Good catch. I wouldn't put it past them to use it anyway though. They still fly "retired" aircraft. It's not like FAA is gonna be coming out there to inspect them anytime soon.

a reply to: ANNED

It wouldn't matter if it's a catapult/catch system. In that case it's closed to regular aircraft, not the UAVs.

originally posted by: Bigburgh
a reply to: grey580

Look to the training grounds to the north.
35.9023703, -117.7238384

Back on topic.
What about helicopter landing strip?

that is a B29 that was hit with a bomb on June 7, 1963 during a visit by President Kennedy.
www.jfklibrary.org...
www.maturango.org...

a reply to: mightmight

Remember seeing the SR-71 on it's way to the Smithsonian,runway was big enough for that and the 4 F-14's that flanked it,... for a few seconds,then SR-71 left them in dust,we did a lot of construction in the area,pretty sure underground tunnels to Nevada,and those buildings have many underground levels,that are top secret clearance

From navair.navy.mil China Lake page.
“Infrastructure
Airfields. The China Lake Ranges are supported by a fully equipped airfield with three major runways, one that is 10,000 feet long. A smaller 2,000-foot runway is dedicated to unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) with a nearby support structure. In remote parts of the ranges, there are two 1,250-foot intersecting unimproved runways with an adjacent building to support UAS and other test customers. This remote location includes a 5,088-foot unimproved runway that supports C-130s and C-17s with an adjacent 1,850-foot test strip. (See separate Airfield Facilities Quick Facts.)”

“Unmanned Systems. The dedicated UAS runway at the airfield supports thousands of training and tactics flight hours annually. The China Lake Ranges have supported a number of “firsts” in flight testing: Northrop-Grumman’s RQ-8 (Fire Scout) and X-47A (Pegasus) and the Navy’s ScanEagle. First launches include AGM-114P against a moving target from the Army Sky Warrior, single AGM-114 (Hellfire) off the MQ-1 (Predator A), ripple fire (4) AGM-114 from MQ-9 (formerly Predator B), and air-to-air Stinger from the MQ-1. First releases include GBU-39 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) from MQ-9 (Reaper), GBU-12 (Paveway II)
from MQ-1 and MQ-9 (Reaper), and GPS-guided small smart bomb (SSB) from the Boeing X-45A.”

originally posted by: ANNED

originally posted by: Bigburgh
a reply to: grey580

Look to the training grounds to the north.
35.9023703, -117.7238384

Back on topic.
What about helicopter landing strip?

that is a B29 that was hit with a bomb on June 7, 1963 during a visit by President Kennedy.
www.jfklibrary.org...
www.maturango.org...

This what happened to Tom Petty?

a reply to: Cauliflower

RIP. Even harder than losing Bowie.

Heck, there is (maybe was by now) even a couple of C-133's and RA-5's laying out there northeast of the main base. Cool looking aircraft painted on the roof of one of the support buildings out there too. Not sure if that's still there either.

The small runway is for UAS systems. There is a really nice one built near Chaparral NM too, which has replaced the Condron NM airfield to the North...Condron had some really cool stuff flying out of it a few years back.

Well, after checking Google Maps, it looks like most of all that stuff is still there..A bunch of Tomcats, a couple of RA-5's, F-4's, -16's etc..The ummm, "unusual" plane still painted on the roof of a support building, and the forward cockpit/fuselage of an RCS mock up of something everyone would find interesting, just sitting out in the open Happy hunting..

a reply to: EBJet
a reply to: EBJet

The Chaparral, NM airfield


Previous Google Maps photo was taken in 2013 and showed just a desert. It must have been built between 2013 and 2016(the last Google Maps photo). In the same time Condron, NM airfield became unused.

Still trying to find a couple of C-133's, RA-5's, F-4's, F-16's among other things... any coordinates?

a reply to: EBJet

What mockup and picture on a building?

a reply to: Woody510

Not at Chaparral, but at a facility Northwest of China Lake..I guess I didn't make that clear in my post, sorry..

Dang it, make that Northeast of China Lake, not Northwest..Duh

a reply to: EBJet

Is the facility far away from China Lake? Well, northeast is Tonopah... but no mockup or painted buildings there...

a reply to: SpeedFanatic

Not that far NE haha

It's over by the graveyard, and it's not sitting out in the open, it's behind a fence.

a reply to: EBJet

got some coords? searched for about 10 miles northeast of china lake and found nothing interesting