Tonopah Test Range

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Tonopah airbase and the surrounding test range
(composite NASA Landsat-7 image)

Tonopah Test Range is a military installation located about 30 miles southeast of Tonopah, Nevada. It is part of the northern fringe of the Nellis Range and is inaccessible to the public. The Tonopah Test Range measures 625 miles² in size. Tonopah Test Range is located about 70 miles northwest of Groom Dry Lake, home of the Area 51 facility. It is also used for launching sounding rockets.

Tonopah Test Range includes the Tonopah Test Range Airport. About six miles north of the airfield is a large housing area called Mancamp, which contains dormitories, a library, cafeteria, and gym.

Map showing Tonopah Test Range and related federal lands in southern Nevada

The range is largely in a valley flanked by the Cactus Range to the west. To the east is the Kawich Range, home of Silverbow, one of the largest mining ghost towns in Nevada. The range holds a sizable wild horse and coyote population, closely monitored by the Bureau of Land Management.

[edit] History

It was opened in 1957 as a testing site for United States Department of Energy weapons programs, and for most of its life it was administered by Sandia National Laboratories.

From 1977-1988 the range hosted a Mig air combat training program code named Constant Peg that was not made public until November 15th, 2006. As many as 25 Migs were involved in the training including Mig-17s, Mig-21s and Mig-23s..^[1]

During the years of the F-117 project, Mancamp was connected to the airfield by shuttle bus service, while the airfield in turn was connected to Nellis Air Force Base by five to twenty Key Air Boeing 727 flights per day from Nellis to Tonopah.^[2] The airfield was also serviced by one or two JANET Boeing 737 flights daily, which were presumably from Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport and served Sandia employees.

[edit] Cited references and notes

^ "Airforce declasifies MiG program", Associated Press, November 17, 2006. (in English)
^ "Six F-117As Flown in Panama Invasion", Aviation Week & Space Technology, McGraw Hill, March 5, 1990, pp. 30. (in English)