Tonopah Test Range

Tonopah Test Range(TTR)

Tonopah is the testing range of choice for all national security missions. Tonopah Test Range (TTR) provides research and development test support for the Department of Energy’s weapon programs. The range also offers a unique test environment for use by other Government agencies and their contractors.

With capabilities such as modern electronic tracking instrumentation and data acquisition systems, TTR assures customers’ complete and accurate test data. TTR also provides facilities, a large land area, and the security to conduct a wide variety of tests.

The Tonopah Test Range, about 30 miles southeast of Tonopah, is another semi-secret test facility within the boundaries of the Nellis Range Complex. It is located roughly 65 miles northwest of Area 51. Another official designation for TTR is Area 52. This can be found on page 34 in this Official DOE Report from August 1998.

Originally founded in 1957 as a ballistic range for testing airborne weapons, it later became a primary test site for explosive studies, managed by Sandia National Laboratories. In the mid-1980's, the first squadron of top-secret F-117 Stealth Fighters was stationed here for tactical evaluation, after initial development at Area 51, but long before the project was unveiled to the public. In more recent years the base has been used as a center for the surrounding electronic combat ranges, and quite likely evaluation of various black projects. Since 2005, possibly longer, a newly formed squadron at TTR performs tactical evaluation of new UAV designs and operational strategies.

On April 22, 2008 the remaining F-117 Stealth Fighters returned to TTR for storage. Although this was supposed to be the last flight of the F-117 a few of them can to this day (12/2019) be seen regularly flying out of TTR for missions over the ranges and in Death Valley. Not much is known about the nature of these missions. One possibility is the use of the F-117 with a well documented radar cross section to test newly developed sub-systems for a new stealth aircraft that is not yet operational. The F-117 has also been observed participating in air-air combat over the ranges.

In the spring of 2019 a massive construction project at TTR required large amounts of dirt to be trucked in. For well over a month several dozen dump trucks a day brought in loads from as far away as Glendale, NV, 250 miles away. Although some runway improvements were observed the exact nature of the construction is still unknown as of 12/2019. At the same time a clear upswing in the Tonopah economy, which largely depends on employment at TTR, is evident. All this seems to indicate a major new project at TTR, possibly related to the new B-21 bomber which is under development at the nearby Area 51.