Located in the northeast of California’s Mojave desert, the China Lake base is adjacent to Ridgecrest, California, and is in the counties of San Bernardina, Inyo, and Kern.
The China Lake NAWS is most known for its soldering technology. The base specializes in weapons development, and operates a full-spectrum weapons system.
The main air station is located several miles away from the real China Lake, the base’s namesake. NAWS China Lake is the largest navy base in the US, with total land holdings around 1.1 million acres. This base accounts for about 38% of the Navy’s total land holdings in the entire world. The base covers all sorts of different landscapes, and most of the land is uninhabited and unused for the most part. This makes it a perfect place for many native species of animals, both rare and common.
Established in 1943, the base is still in use and continues to be one of the Navy’s main sources for weapons and supports the Navy fleets all around the world.