VX-31 Dust Devils F/A-18F Super Hornet BuNo 165928, DD-211, Armitage Field, 13 January 2013. Photographer unknown.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert visits NAWS China Lake to view cutting-edge training simulators being developed, tested and evaluated for future implementation in the fleet, China Lake, CA, 31 January 2013. BQM-74E Chukar III aerial target at left. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Lawlor.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert visits NAWS China Lake to view cutting-edge training simulators being developed, tested and evaluated for future implementation in the fleet, China Lake, CA, 31 January 2013. Anti Radiation Air Missile Air Defense Array (AARMADA) full-scale ground threat at left. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Lawlor.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert visits NAWS China Lake to view cutting-edge training simulators being developed, tested and evaluated for future implementation in the fleet, China Lake, CA, 31 January 2013. VX-31 Dust Devils E/A-18G Growler BuNo 166642, DD-500, in the background. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Lawlor.

CNO Adm. Jonathan Greenert visits NAWS China Lake to view cutting-edge training simulators being developed, tested and evaluated for future implementation in the fleet, China Lake, CA, 31 January 2013. Scott O’Neil, left, NAWCWD executive director, and U.S. House of Representatives Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy were also part of the tour. VX-31 Dust Devils E/A-18G Growler BuNo 166642, DD-500, in the background. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Lawlor.

 HH-1K Huey BuNo 157178 near the MAD headquarters, China Lake, 14 February 2013. The restoration was performed by volunteers from MAD, NAWS, NAWCWD, and several contractors and civilians. Markings are in honor of both the sailors of HAL-5, and Marine Maj. Stephen W. Pless. Pless was a Medal of Honor recipient from VMO-6 whose actions near Quang Nai, Republic of Vietnam on 19 August 1967 saved four American Soldiers while being attacked at close range by Viet Cong forces. Official U.S. Marine Corps photo.

Marine Corps Capt. Leigh G. Irwin, a helicopter pilot assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) through the Marine Aviation Detachment (MAD) at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, CA., completes a pre-flight walk-about on the flight line, 14 March 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

Marine Corps Capt. Leigh G. Irwin, a helicopter pilot assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) through the Marine Aviation Detachment (MAD) at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, CA., inspects the tail boom on a UH-1Y Huey during a pre-flight check at China Lake, 14 March 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

Marine Corps Capt. Leigh G. Irwin is a helicopter pilot assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) through the Marine Aviation Detachment (MAD) at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, CA. She has been stationed at China Lake for more than a year. Official U.S. Navy photo, 14 March 2013.

The aft end of a one-of-a-kind test sled carries 131 individual motors (114 MK-16 Mod 2/3 Zuni rocket motors and 17 Multiple Launch Rocket System motors) that were used to generate 1.14 million pounds of thrust during a record-setting test on the Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake. The team spent about nine months preparing for the test event held on April 26 that produced 1.14 million pounds of thrust in about .9 seconds. That roughly equals the amount of thrust generated by all three space shuttle main engines at lift-off, or six Boeing 777s at take off. Official U.S. Navy photo.

More than one million pounds of thrust was produced in about .9 seconds to push the 74,000 pound sled down the Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track (SNORT) during a recent record-setting test at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, 26 April 2013. The sled traveled more than 13,600 feet in about 30 seconds and met the test objective of 16.8 G's acceleration. Official U.S. Navy photo.

V.Adm.. David Dunaway, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, watches all three robots working simultaneously to assemble circuit boards on the SPIKE CAS inside the Applied Manufacturing Technology Division at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, 21 May 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

Ron Pruitt, of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Weapons and Energetics Department, shows V.Adm.. David Dunaway, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, how robotic programming and logic work the robot pendant inside the Applied Manufacturing Technology Division at China Lake, 21 May 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

VX-30 Bloodhounds CO Cmdr. James Borghardt, center, discusses capabilities of the AeroVironment RQ-11B Raven, held by Vice Adm. David Dunaway, commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, while touring the unmanned aerial systems hangar at NAWCWD Point Mugu, 22 May 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) s/n 05-4016 in-flight with six MBDA Dual Mode Brimstone missiles, each wing carrying a launcher with three missiles, China Lake, 30 May 2013. MBDA/BIG SAFARI photo.

Tom Dowd, second from left, NAWCWD Threat/Target Systems Department director, highlights the capabilities of the supersonic Beechcraft AQM-37 Jayhawk for NAWC Aircraft Division Commander RAdm. Mark Darrah, and Deputy Assistant Commander for Research and Engineering Tony Cifone, during a tour of NAWCWD Point Mugu, 09 July 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Commander RAdm. Mark Darrah inspects a full scale rapid prototype model of a Spike missile while on a tour of the Miniature Munitions Lab with NAWC Weapons Division senior leadership at China Lake, 10 July 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

A convoy of 55 Marines, two Navy corpsmen and 28 tactical vehicles from 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and Combat Logistics Battalion 5 parks for the night at China Lake on 23 September 2014. Official U.S. Navy photo.

Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 construct a new road along NAWS China Lake’s flight line, 26 September 2013. NMCB 3’s China Lake team is tasked with repaving the airfield and improving roughly 10 miles of road along two main supply routes. U.S. Navy photo by Construction Electrician 2nd Class Michael Griffiths Jr.

Four rocket motors are angled up 30 degrees to fine-tune the amount of forward thrust needed for Parachute Design Verification sleds used during a recent test at the Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, 03 October 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

VX-9 Vampires F/A-18C Hornet BuNo 164740, XE-302, Williams-Gateway airport, 08 October 2013. Photo by Jack McGorray.

A battle-damaged UH-1N Iroquois helicopter in transport to a new Joint Combat Assessment Team (JCAT) Training Range at NAWCWD China Lake, 10 October 2013. U.S. Navy photo.

VX-31 Dust Devils MH-60S Knighthawk BuNo 165763, DD-464, is attached to the parachute release plate just after sunrise on the morning of a recent test at the Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, 11 October 2013. The helicopter then carried the parachute to the 4,110 foot release altitude. Official U.S. Navy photo.

Two second stage rocket motors fire to continue to pull a parachute down out of the sky during of a recent test at the Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, 11 October 2013. Official U.S. Navy photo.

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) s/n 05-4016 with six MBDA Dual Mode Brimstone missiles, each wing carrying a launcher with three missiles, China Lake, 12 December 2013. MBDA/BIG SAFARI photo.

A forward-firing miniature munition, known as Spike, is launched at an Outlaw, a class-two representative unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), during a recent and successful counter-UAV demonstration on the land range at NAWCWD China Lake, 18 December 2013. U.S. Navy photo.