Nevada Test and Training Range
Encyclopedia
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
located in the desert of southern Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is the largest of its kind in the US, 4687 square miles (12,139.3 km²) and is operated by the USAF Warfare Center's 98th Range Wing
98th Range Wing
The 98th Range Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Air Warfare Center. The unit is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada as a tenant unit....
. The NTTR was renamed from the Nellis Air Force Range (NAFR) in 2001.
NTTR borders (on three sides) the Department of Energy's
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
Nevada Test Site
Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site , previously the Nevada Test Site , is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas...
; between them the two complexes control much of the land in southern Nevada. NTTR is operated from Nellis Air Force Base
Nellis Air Force Base
Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Combat Command .-Overview:...
near Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. The National Wildhorse Management Area is entirely enclosed inside the NTTR, and much of the eastern section of the NTTR overlaps with the Desert National Wildlife Refuge
Desert National Wildlife Refuge
The Desert National Wildlife Range is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located north of Las Vegas, Nevada, in northwestern Clark and southwestern Lincoln counties, with much of its land area lying within the southeastern section of the Nevada Test and...
.
The terrain enclosed by the range is characterized by numerous small ranges of mountains, with the area between consisting of desert, including many small endorheic
Endorheic
An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans...
lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s. One of these, Groom Lake
Groom Lake
Groom Lake is a salt flat in Nevada used for runways of the Nellis Bombing Range Test Site airport on the north of the Area 51 USAF military installation. The lake at elevation is ~ from north to south and from east to west at its widest point...
(located near the northeast border of NTTR) is reportedly the location of the air force's secret test facility, popularly known as Area 51
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
.
At least once per year NTTR hosts RED FLAG, a combined NATO simulated air warfare exercise. NTTR is also the location of Green Flag, a similar exercise emphasising the electronic aspects of airborne warfare.
