The links between Groom Lake and California's Antelope Valley
_____________________________________________________________
by Paul McGinnis, May 28, 1995


For more than 40 years, a secret airbase has existed at Groom
Dry Lake, Nevada, to test classified aircraft. Originally
built by the CIA, it is now operated by the Air Force as part
of the Nellis Range Complex. In the past, the U-2, SR-71, and
F-117 aircraft have been tested there, among others. Recently,
the Air Force managed to withdraw 3,972 acres of public land
to prevent people from seeing the base from some desert ridges
ten miles away.

There have been reports of exotic new low observable ("Stealth")
and hypersonic aircraft at the Groom facility in the last few
years. Since classified aircraft don't magically appear in 
Nevada, perhaps some attention should be focused on where
classified aircraft have been designed and built, California's
Antelope Valley, on the other side of the mountains north of
Los Angeles County. Palmdale is the home of Air Force Plant 42,
site of Lockheed-Martin's "Skunk Works" (Lockheed Advanced
Development Co., on the west side of Plant 42), Northrop-Grumman's
final assembly plant for the B-2 Stealth bomber, Rockwell, and
other aerospace companies. Among the other sensitive sites around
the Antelope Valley, are Northrop's Tejon Ranch radar cross section
test facility (at the base of the Tehachapi mountains), Lockheed's
radar cross section test site north of Helendale, and the General
Atomics El Mirage Flight Test Facility, where the CIA's Gnat-750
(Tier 1) and Predator (Tier 2) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, used
for reconnaissance) are tested. To the north are Edwards AFB
(classified aircraft have been tested on the northern part of
the base) and the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center, home of
the Randsburg Wash Test Range, that the Navy described as "Sea
Site I, a highly classified, sensitive, electronic warfare facility"
in a land withdrawal handled by the California office of the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1994. Various parts of the
aerospace industry tend to concentrate around various locations.
For example, reconnaissance satellites and other advanced
electronics tend to be clustered around El Segundo, CA (home of
Los Angeles Air Force Station, TRW, etc.) and Sunnyvale, CA (home
of Onizuka AFB, Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., and others.)
A significant group of airplane builders is clustered in the
Antelope Valley, because of lower population densities and
year-round ideal flying weather.

Based on military documents, and what I've found, I believe that
there are strong connections between operations in the Antelope
Valley (especially Air Force Plant 42) and Groom Lake. Since many
of the classified aircraft contracts in the past have gone to
Lockheed's "Skunk Works", I should probably start there. Lockheed
operations are located in two different parts of Plant 42 -- 
large hangars and other buildings on the west side of the base,
known as Plant 10 Complex, and U-2/F-117 upgrade activities located
in Site 7, northwest of Palmdale Air Terminal. There are two 12,000
foot (3692 meter) long runways at Plant 42. Runway 4-22 is used
by Lockheed (at Site 7), and EG&G [see below]. It has been reported
that occasionally, Air Force C-5 and C-141 transport aircraft have
been loaded with unknown cargoes (presumably disassembled aircraft)
in the middle of the night from the big hangars in Plant 10, taken
to the other runway, runway 7-25, and flown to unknown destinations.
Historically, Lockheed has conducted classified testing up at
Groom Lake, Nevada, in programs like the U-2, SR-71, and F-117. To
the northeast of the hangars and other buildings in Plant 10, one
finds a large warehouse complex in Site 8, operated by Northrop-
Grumman and a military contractor I've never heard of before,
Pacifica Services. (Perhaps this is what Bob Lazar means when he
claims he received his education at "Pacifica"...)

At Groom Lake, base workers are flown in daily on 737s from a
terminal at Las Vegas' McCarran Airport. This service is operated
by Nevada Test Site contractor EG&G. Base workers at Groom Lake
have been told to say the work for EG&G at the Nevada Test Site,
rather than reveal they work at Groom Lake. Oddly enough, EG&G has
a small hangar at Plant 42, located in Site 6, near the control
tower, and just off runway 4-22. I have not confirmed the rumors
that occasionally, Lockheed employees who live in Palmdale and
Lancaster board chartered aircraft at Plant 42. I have not been
able to find out what EG&G is doing at Plant 42, but it is supposed
to be classified. Someday, I will have to lurk around the EG&G
complex at 6 in the morning to see if any of the infamous "Janet"
flights that leave Las Vegas for Groom Lake also shuttle workers
from Plant 42.

Speaking of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), I recently obtained NTS
security manuals for 1978, 1985, and 1991. What's interesting is
that this document identifies NTS badges, and indicates that if a
badge has an '8' marked on it, the wearer is cleared to go up to
Area 51. There is a list of sensitive sites, and the appropriate
badge markings. Since the only Air Force place you can get to from
NTS, along a road that has a guard station where badges are checked,
is Area 51 (going north up Mercury Highway or Valley Road),it looks
like they are talking about our favorite place...

Here's how the '8' indication is described in various editions of
the NTS security manuals. (It says that special authorization is
needed to go to security area '8'.)

date of manual     site description
-------------     ---------------
1978                    Project #51 (USAF)
1985                    USAF (Appendix calls it "Project 51 USAF")
1991                    DET 1

DET 1 is an Air Force abbreviation for Detachment 1. Based on what
I have seen in military documents, I think the DET 1 referred to
for Groom Lake is Detachment 1, Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC),
part of the Air Force's Materiel Command, headquartered at Wright-
Patterson AFB, Ohio. This DET 1 is the organization that runs
Air Force Plant 42, and I think is the same DET 1 referred to above.
Aeronautical Systems Center has been involved with numerous
aircraft programs that were classified at one point in time. For
example, part of budget justification item submitted to Congress
for Program Element (PE) 0207141F, F-117A Squadrons, states that
the F-117A Development System Program Office is located at Wright-
Patterson AFB, and "some development work will be performed by
Wright Labs, Aeronautical Systems Center". PE 0604240F, B-2 Advanced
Technology Bomber, states, "The B-2 Program is managed by the B-2
Systems Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson
AFB, Ohio." Given the ASC's past involvement with classified
aircraft and their role as the leader in Air Force aircraft
development and procurement programs, and their role at Plant 42,
my guess is that they would have a strong role at Groom Lake.

Sources used:
-------------

* Air Force budget documents released under the Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) or purchased from the government. These items are provided
to Congress each Fiscal Year, as part of the CBJBs (Congressional
Budget Justification Book).

* material on Plant 42, released under the FOIA, including base maps,
the briefing provided to military contractors ("California's Antelope
Valley-A National Aerospace Treasure"), and "Partners in Progress -
LADOA & PRAC / USAF Plant 42".

* "Security Instructions - Personnel Security System", for 1978,
1985, and 1991, from U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations
Office. (These are the NTS security manuals mentioned above.)

* "Lockheed Skunk Works", by Steve Pace, 1992, Motorbooks.

* Author's experiences in the Antelope Valley, and conversations
with aerospace workers and government offficials.


Paul McGinnis / TRADER@cup.portal.com / PaulMcG@aol.com
  http://www.portal.com/~trader/home.html
  
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