USN tb VX 31 RDTE Patch Weapons Test Squadron China Lake US Navy Aviation

US Navy Aviation Patch Test VX 31 Weapons Test Squadron Dust Devils Naval Weapons Centre China Lake 2002 Embroidered on twill merrowed edge 105mm by 94mm four and one eighth inches by three and three quarter inches.

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The US Navy established the Naval Ordnance Test Station NOTS at China Lake in November 1943 in conjunction with the California Institute of Technology Caltech for the research development testing and evaluation of weapons and rockets and a new USN proving ground for training with aviation ordnance. The vast and sparsely populated area with mountains deserts canyons caves and forests the landing strip in Inyokern in the Indian Wells Valley at the south eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Western Mojave Desert in California with near perfect flying weather and virtually unlimited visibility proved an ideal location for both the test and evaluation activities and the complete research and development establishment. The early Navy Caltech partnership established a pattern of cooperation and interaction between civilian scientists and engineers experienced military personnel and defence contractors that has made China Lake one of the preeminent research development test and evaluation institutions in the world.

US Naval Facility Inyokern was established in May 1944 named Harvey Field before being renamed Armitage Field in 1945 to provide facilities for all aircraft operations at NOTS the facility was able to provide a unique R&D testing evaluation and training environment and airspace. Initially concentrating on ground attack rocket missiles during the War NOTS undertook top secret testing for the Manhattan project under Project Camel. Aviation missile ordnance testing continued after the War with NOTS scientists and engineers developed the air intercept missile AIM 9 Sidewinder in the early 1950s and continued with the Sparrow Mighty Mouse Zuni Shrike Joint Stand-Off Weapon JSOW and Joint Direct Attack Munition JDAM.

NOTS China Lake and Naval Ordnance Laboratory Corona California was reorganised and redesignated Naval Weapons Centre in July 1967. The NWC Corona facilities were closed and their functions transferred to China Lake in 1971. The National Parachute Test Range at NAF El Centro were transferred to China Lake in July 1979.

With the end of the Cold War and subsequent reduction in defence budgets the Naval Air Systems Command NAVAIR combined NWC China Lake Pacific Missile Test Centre Point Mugu White Sands Missile Range and Navy Units at Kirkland AFB Albuquerque to form the Naval Air Warfare Centre Weapons Division NAWCWPNS in January 1992. At the same time China Lake was designated as a Naval Air Weapons Station and became host to the NAVAIR Weapons Division.

Air Test and Evaluation Squadron AIRTEVRON THREE ONE VX 31 Dust Devils was activated on 1 May 2002 at NWC China Lake on the redesignation of Naval Weapons Test Squadron NWTS China Lake to continue the provision of aircraft test pilots project officers and flight test planning officers for research development test and evaluation RDT&E programmes for current and future manned aircraft weapons and weapons systems.  

The Squadrons Project Test & Evaluation Department carriers out the tests and evaluation programmes and operates the Airborne Test Bed program. The Flight Operations Department is responsible for the scheduling of more than 40 Pilots and Weapon Systems Officers and 30 aircraft. The Squadrons Safety Departments primary mission is to plan identify and correct hazards before and during test programmes. The Aircraft Maintenance Department provides organizational maintenance support to every phase of flight testing and evaluation. VX 31 Search and Rescue SAR Department provides SAR and medical evacuation MEDEVAC response for all agencies who utilize the local flying area and the proving ground training ranges.

This patch dates from 2002.