The NAVAIR Range Department operates major test ranges and facilities on the east and west coasts of the United States. These large, unencroached tracts of land, sea, and air space provide a variety of terrain including desert, mountain, littoral and open ocean. NAVAIR manages, schedules and controls these air, land and sea operating areas; provides a variety of fixed and mobile range instrumentation assets; and provides air vehicle and weapons systems modification and instrumentation.
NAVAIR assets include the Sea Range at Point Mugu, California; the Land Ranges and Electronic Combat Range at China Lake, California; and the Atlantic Test Ranges at Patuxent River, Maryland. In addition to the physical test areas, NAVAIR provides associated test article preparation and instrumentation, specialized test facilities and test environments, radar-cross-section measurements and interconnectivity with simulation and stimulation facilities and other major ranges