Tonopah Test Range Airport (TTR)

 air force base, United States Air Force

The Tonopah Test Range first opened in 1957 as a weapons test area operated by the Atomic Energy Commission. The facility is heavily instrumented with camera & radar tracking devices that record data from artillery shell testing, bomb drops, cruise missiles, and rocket tests. The test range airfield was originally built to support the DOE test programs, and only operated light transport aircraft from a 6,000' runway.

In 1977 the airport was selected by the USAF as the base of the highly secret 4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron "Red Eagles", which would operate MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighter aircraft as training aids for American pilots operating out of Nellis AFB at Las Vegas.

Beginning in October 1979 Tonopah Airport was reconstructed and expanded to accommodate
the Soviet fighters. The 6,000 ft runway was lengthened to 10,000 ft. Taxiways, a concrete apron, a large maintenance hangar for the MiGs, and a propane storage tank were added. Flight operations were controlled from a radio-equipped jeep.

Phase II of the expansion consisted of the construction of a standard parallel taxiway, a control tower, a 42,000 square foot hangar for MiG-23 aircraft, a parts warehouse, a dining hall, a water storage tank, and extensive fuel storage tanks.

In 1982 the base began hosting the F-117 stealth attack aircraft of the 4450th Tactical Group, another "black" USAF unit. A-7D tactical bombers were operated in daytime as a cover, supposedly testing advanced anti-radar weapons at the nearby Tolicha Peak Electronic Range.

Phase III expansion of the facility was a 2,000 ft runway extension to a total length of 12,000 ft. Extensions were made to taxiways, the ramp, the runway gained arrester gear, and new navigation aids were installed. More fuel storage was provided, together with Liquid Oxygen (LOX) storage, a fire station, and the first 24 F-117 hangars.

Eventually the base accommodated a complete combat wing of F-117s that did not officially exist, even though the extensive hangar facilities were clearly visible from nearby commercial air routes, which were eventually transferred to Holloman AFB in 1992. Following this transfer and the subsquent dissolution of the Soviet Union and shrinking of defense budgets, the base was placed into Caretaker status and the "Red Eagles" disbanded in 1998. Remaining in this status but seeing occasional use by the DOE in support of operations at the Tonopah Test Range, the facility was reactivated in August 2005 with the arrival of the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron, operating Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's)and later RQ-170 Sentinel UAVs.

In 2008 the remaining 52 F-117A Nighthawks returned to the base and were placed into long-term covered storage at their hangers on the North side of the base. Of these 52 aircraft, as many as four have been recorded as being airworthy and making occasional flights from the airfield.