NAWS China Lake Armitage Field
IATA: none – ICAO: KNID – FAA LID: NID
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		United States Navy
Location		China Lake, California
In use		1943 - present
Commander		CAPT. Jeffrey A. Dodson
Elevation AMSL		2,283 ft / 696 m
Coordinates		35°41′08″N 117°41′31″W / 35.68556°N 117.69194°W / 35.68556; -117.69194
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
3/21	9,993	3,046	PEM
8/26	7,702	2,348	PEM
14/32	9,013	2,747	PEM
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

USGS orthographic image showing the main runways at NAWS China Lake

Indian Wells Valley, showing Ridgecrest, California and the China Lake area.

FAA Airport Diagram

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake or NAWS China Lake (ICAO: KNID, FAA LID: NID) is an airborne weapons testing and training range operated by the United States Navy and its contractors. It is located in the northeast of California's Mojave Desert in northwestern San Bernardino County, southwestern Inyo County, and northeastern Kern County, adjacent to Ridgecrest, California.

NAWS China Lake was known as a technology leader in soldering technology, thanks to its full-spectrum weapon systems development programs. The technology was transferred to industry through its soldering technology seminars and soldering training programs at the DOD Electronics Manufacturing Productivity Facility.

Background

The main airfield, Armitage Field, is situated several miles from China Lake itself, an endorheic basin from which the range takes its name. It is the home base of 16 tenant commands, including the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9), Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Thirty One (VX-31), and an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Training Detachment. NAWS China Lake is the US Navy's largest single holding of land, comprising 1.1 million acres (4500 km²), approximately 38% of the US Navy's total land holdings in the world, and the airspace controlled jointly by NAWS China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base and Fort Irwin is the largest in the Department of Defense known as the R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex. In addition China Lake has maintained research components in both physics and chemistry at Lauritsen and Michelson laboratories.

According to the California State Military Museum Web site, the land, ranging in altitude from 2,100 to 8,900 feet (640 to 2,700 m), varies from flat dry lake beds to rugged piñon pine-covered mountains. The majority of the land is undeveloped and provides habitat for more than 340 species of wildlife and 650 plant types.

In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited NAWS China Lake for an air show and to see Michelson Lab. Richard William Rusciolelli (father of comedian Dante) was President Kennedy's technical presentations coordinator and protocol officer for the visit.

Geographical history

The area was once also home to the Native American Coso People, whose presence here is marked by thousands of archaeological sites; the Coso traded with other tribes as far away as San Luis Obispo County, California. This locale was also a site used by European miners and settlers whose cabins and mining structures are extant throughout the Station. Among the notable archaeological sites is the National Park Service's Coso Rock Art District, an area of some 99 square miles (260 km) which contains more than 50,000 documented petroglyphs.

The rock art district was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.

Historically rich, NAWS traces its heritage to the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) established at nearby Inyokern in 1943 as a joint navy/civilian facility, and the first civilian director was L.T.E. Thompson ("Dr. Tommy"). Since then it has been one of the US Navy's premier weapons development facilities and continues to support the US fleet. A number of preserved B-29 bombers in museums were reclaimed from target airframes stored on the ranges here in the 1950s.

Inventions tested and refined at China Lake include the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, the AGM-62 Walleye TV-guided glide bomb, the AGM-45 Shrike antiradar missile, the AIM-95 Agile missile, the AGM-122 Sidearm antiradar missile, the AGM-123 Skipper II laser-guided missile, the lightstick, and the continuous-rod warhead.

One of the world's largest geothermal power plants is located at China Lake at the Coso Geothermal Field. The installation currently produces 270 megawatt-hours (970 GJ) from four geothermal power plants. 166 wells have been drilled throughout the field, with production depths from 2,000 to 12,000 feet (610 to 3,700 m), and temperatures from 200 °C (392 °F) to 350 °C (662 °F). Coso began generating electricity in 1987.

Tenant Squadrons

• Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9
• Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31

Museum

On or near the base is the Naval Museum of Armament & Technology, which is one of fifteen official U.S. Navy museums.

Runway Information

Runway 03/21

Runway 08/26

Runway 14/32

Radio Navigation Aids

Remarks

• RWY-LGTS: RWY 21, OLS.
• TRAN ALERT - EXP 4 HR SVC DELAY. LTD TRAN SVC AVBL 1530-0300Z++ MON-FRI.
• RSTD - PPR DSN 437-5475. ALL PPR ISSUED 1530-0030Z++ WEEKDAYS ONLY.
• CAUTION - BURROS ON AND IN VCNTY OF RWY. BIRD HAZ NEAR GOLF CRS, WI CLASS D AIRSPACE, OCT-APR.
• CSTMS/AG/IMG - CSTMS NOT AVBL. ACFT ENTERING FR FOREIGN COUNTRIES MUST CLEAR CSTMS PRIOR ARR.
• MISC - TRAN ACFT TO/FR CHINA LAKE NID MUST CTC R2508 COMPLEX CONTROL BOARD FOR SKED/BRIEF PRIOR TO OBTAINING A PPR. PORTIONS OF APCH END RWY 26 AND ADJ TWY NOT VISIBLE FR TWR.
• RWY-LGTS: RWY 26, OLS.
• RWY-LGTS: RWY 14, OLS.
• RWY-LGTS: RWY 32, OLS.
• A-GEAR - E-28 (B) RWY 08-26 NML DERIGGED 15 MIN NTC RQR TO RIG.
• JASU - 3(GTC-85), 5(NC-10A1), 1(NC-10B), 1(NC-10C), 7(AM32A-108), 4(A/M47A-4), 4(MSU-200).
• FUEL - J8- AVBL 1400-0700Z++ MON-THU; 1400-0430Z++ ALT THU-FRI; 2200-0700Z++ SUN
• OIL - O-133-156.

China Lake Naws (armitage Fld) Airport 

Address: Kern County, CA

Tel:

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General Info
Country	United States
State	CALIFORNIA
FAA ID	NID
Latitude	35-41-15.836N
Longitude	117-41-26.231W
Elevation	2283 feet
Near City	CHINA LAKE

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