Utah Test and Training Range

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) is a military testing and training area located in Utah's West Desert, approximately 80 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah.

UTTR is currently the largest overland contiguous block of supersonic authorized restricted airspace in the continental United States. The range, which has a footprint of 2,675 miles of ground space and over 19,000 miles of air space, is divided into North and South ranges. I-80 divides the two sections of the range.

The site is administered and maintained by the US Air Force's 388th Range Squadron (388RANS) stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

[edit] Activities

The Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) is host to a variety of training and testing missions for the United States Air Force, United States Army, and United States Marine Corps.

The site is frequently used for the disposal of explosive ordnance, testing of experimental military equipment, as well as ground and air military training exercises.

The Utah Test and Training Range works in close conjunction with Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) for military training exercises.

[edit] Area 52

Because of the nature of the missions performed on the Utah Test and Training Range the area is off-limits to the public.

This has led many people speculate that the site is home to covert government projects, and some have even claimed that activities in the area are akin to those performed at Area 51 in Nevada. Subsequently many conspiracy theorists have dubbed the Utah Test and Training Range "Area 52".^{[citation needed]}