Notable Achievements of the Naval Weapons Center: China Lake, Air-to-Air, Air-to-Surface Weapons, Fire Control Systems, EW Simulation, Explosives, Fuze Technology, Optics, Soldering Technology

This is a print replica reproduction of a book by the U.S. Navy outlining the achievements of the Naval Weapons Center from 1943 through 1989. The Naval Weapons Center (NWC), China Lake, Calif., has an extraordinary record of achievement stretching over nearly 50 years. During his tenure as Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara commented that China Lake "designed 85 percent of the Free World's air weapons." In extensive peer rating surveys conducted by the Office of the Chief of Naval Material in the 1970s, China Lake was rated the top Navy laboratory. Some years later David Packard, in his role as chairman of the Packard Commission, declared that China Lake "is one of the two or three best federal laboratories." For security reasons the Center's accomplishments have not been widely publicized. Consequently neither the achievements of the Center nor the factors that have made NWC successful are widely known outside the immediate Navy research and development (R&D) community. This is true of other in-house Navy R&D laboratories as well, and may contribute to a perception that the in-house laboratories are not productive. The fact is that because much of the work of the R&D laboratories is classified, these facilities tend to try to keep a "low profile" to minimize security problems. In addition, the complexity of many R&D efforts is such that the contributions of the in-house laboratories can become obscured. For example, the in-house laboratory may perform critical research and, on the basis of such research, may design a new weapon. The laboratory's role in full-scale engineering development of that weapon may be a key one, or even a dominant one. But by the time the weapon goes into production, the trade journals, Headquarters people, and even the Fleet users tend to associate it with the private-sector contractor that produces it. The technology that made the weapon possible gets merged into the identity of the weapon system, and recollection of where that technology originated is lost. Navy managers are frustrated to read and hear words to the effect that "the in-house laboratories do not produce much." NWC knows that its record of achievement over the years can match or exceed that of an , R&D activity anywhere. Again, other in-house laboratories share this frustration in conveying the reality of what the laboratories have done and are doing. The China Lake message should not be lost or forgotten-NWC's resources, geographic remoteness, land expanse; the fact that at NWC you can carry a development program all the way through from concept to all-up test and evaluation of the complete system, without leaving the China Lake complex; the willingness of the Navy to allow weapon development programs actually to be conducted under the technical direction of weapon experts at China Lake, rather than business managers in Headquarters. The China Lake outlook is not static; it is characterized by innovation, change, and responsible risk-taking.

How China Lake Operates * Military/Civilian Teamwork * Diversity of Style * Innovation in the Workplace * Quality of Life * Environment and Stewardship * Technical Leadership * Evolution of the Center's Role * Quality * Center Facilities * Test Ranges * Laboratories * Center Products * Air-to-Air Weapons * Air-to-Surface Weapons * Target-Acquisition/Fire-Control Systems * Strategic Weapon Contributions * Notable Products in Other Areas * Research and Technology * ARM Technology * EW Simulation * Infrared Technology * Explosives * Propellants * Fuze Technology * Aerodynamics and Thrust Vector Control * Optics * Soldering Technology * Technology Transfer * Salient Technical Achievements