Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, located in the western reaches of California’s Mojave Desert. China Lake is home to NAVAIR’s Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD).
The video shows UTAP-22 drones launching, MANPADS blasting targets out of the sky, all types of guided air-to-ground munitions shacking the hell out of vehicles and structures, bunker-buster bomb bodies hurtling off rocket sleds through concrete walls, a big Tactical Tomahawk flying right through the spine of a parked F-4 Phantom target and many others clips of pinpoint destruction and general mayhem—all conducted under very tight and highly safe testing conditions!
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NAWCWD is responsible for supporting NAVAIR programs by:
- Performing research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E), logistics, and in-service support for guided missiles, free-fall weapons, targets, support equipment, crew systems, and electronic warfare
- Integrating weapons and avionics on tactical aircraft
- Operating the Navy’s western land and Sea Range test and evaluation complex
- Developing and applying new technology to ensure battlespace dominance
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Among the services NAWCWD provides, there is also Missiles and Free-Fall Weapons Research and Development. This means that China Lake develops explosives and propellants, and conducts basic and applied research in science and technology of weaponry.
Weapon systems regularly developed at China Lake include Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), High-Speed Antiradiation Missile (HARM), Hellfire, Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), Penguin, Phoenix, Sidewinder, SeaSparrow, Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM), SLAM-ER, Standard Missile, Tomahawk and Vertical Launch Anti-submarine Rocket (VLA).
Actually, China Lake, encompassing more than 1.1 million acres, 17,000 square miles of restricted airspace over land, more than 2,000 buildings and all kinds of possible targets, also supports operational testing activities carried out by partner nations.