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Tonopah Test Range

37°47′N, 116°47′W — Southern Nye County, Nevada — restricted USAF/DOE test range, ~625 sq mi

What's documented

The Tonopah Test Range is a restricted military test range in southern Nye County, Nevada, covering roughly 625 square miles. Operated by Sandia National Laboratories for the Department of Energy with United States Air Force support, it has been in continuous use since 1957. The range was the operational home of the F-117 stealth program from 1982 to 1992 and has hosted flight-testing of foreign-acquired Soviet aircraft (the "Constant Peg" program). The Tonopah Test Range Airport sits within the range's northern boundary.

Public-record imagery

Tonopah Test Range Airport, 1990 — USAF photograph.
Tonopah Test Range Airport, 1990 — USAF photograph.Wikipedia Commons · Public domain · United States Air Force · 1990
Tonopah Test Range Airport, 1990 — the secret base where the F-117A Nighthawk flew its first operational years entirely at night, hidden from satellites.
Tonopah Test Range Airport, 1990 — the secret base where the F-117A Nighthawk flew its first operational years entirely at night, hidden from satellites.Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · United States Air Force · 1990
The lone runway at Tonopah, photographed from low altitude. The hangars at the south end held the stealth fleet from 1982 to 1992.
The lone runway at Tonopah, photographed from low altitude. The hangars at the south end held the stealth fleet from 1982 to 1992.Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Produced using NASA World Wind software. · Unkn
The 4450th Maintenance Squadron — the 'T-Unit' that flew the F-117A out of Tonopah at night under tight secrecy from 1982 to 1988. They flew A-7 Corsairs by day as cover; the F-117 program was not publicly acknowledged until 10 November 1988.
The 4450th Maintenance Squadron — the 'T-Unit' that flew the F-117A out of Tonopah at night under tight secrecy from 1982 to 1988. They flew A-7 Corsairs by day as cover; the F-117 program was not publicly acknowledged until 10 November 1988.Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · United States Air Force · 1989