Combat Aircraft's consultant editor Jamie Hunter reports from China Lake, California, on US Navy test and evaluation squadron VX-9 'Vampires'.
Report and exclusive VX-9 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet photos: Jamie Hunter/Aviacom
As the sun sinks behind California's Sierra Nevada, the rolling Mojave desert turns golden and the snow capped mountains become pink and then purple as the cloak of darkness encroaches from the east. The remote desert town of Ridgecrest proclaims itself as being where 'The Mojave meets the Sierra'. The dusty, arid desert spreads out east towards Death Valley and the Las Vegas, and to the west it abruptly ends at the jagged peaks that reach skywards and dominate the scenery. The California desert is not the first location that springs to mind as a place to find the US Navy at work. However, this area has long been associated with some of its most secretive flight-testing.
The year round fine weather and desolate landscape here offer an ideal environment for test flying; sonic booms and explosions echo down the desolate canyons as jets punch through the sound barrier and precision weapons impact the dirt.
In this rugged desert area to the north of Mojave nestles the high-desert town of Ridgecrest and it thrives on the Navy's presence, sitting as it does right on the doorstep of Naval Weapons Station China Lake. The ever-increasing list of hotels on the main 'strip' are full throughout the week, packed out with contractors and visiting military personnel. China Lake is undoubtedly one of the most impressive military installations in the US and it is a precious asset for the Navy with more than one million acres of desert and uncluttered airspace to try out the latest and greatest. China Lake's ranges challenge these new systems arriving from contractors, to ensure suitability and drive forward capability to ensure that the US Navy and Marine Corps stay at the cutting edge.
As well as the Naval Air Warfare Center's (NAWC) complexes of scientific laboratories and test installations, the air station at Armitage Field is home to two charismatic flight test squadrons. VX-31 'Dust Devils' is a NAVAIR (Naval Air Systems Command) unit responsible for development test (DT) of these latest systems for the Navy. Alongside is VX-9 'Vampires', a famous squadron that acts as the reality-check for much of this new equipment.
Vampire history
The US Navy first came to China Lake in 1943 when the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) was first established to test rockets and a new proving ground was established to examine the new aviation ordnance. The sparsely populated desert around China Lake and Inyokern proved absolutely ideal for the secret development and evaluation of new weapons. VX-9 'Vampires' actually started out as Air Development Squadron Five (VX-5) back in 1951 at NAS Moffett Field. From day one the 'Vampires' were tasked with developing new tactics and evaluating the new equipment to see if it was suitable and mature enough to meet the rigors of the fleet squadrons. From initial airborne special weapons tasks with the Douglas Skyraider, the 'Vampire' mission expanded to take on new types as this important work developed, with the unit moving to China Lake in July 1956.
Today, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine (VX-9) 'Vampires' maintains the same remit - responsibility for operational test (OT) of new weapons systems for US Navy and Marine Corps strike aircraft.
The full version of this report appears in Combat Aircraft Volume 9.2