Submitted by TEAM Public Affairs, China Lake

NAWCAD CHINA LAKE, Calif. -- The past came alive as the U.S. Navy weapons museum at China Lake on 28 July opened as a museum rather than an exhibit center for the first time. A formal ribbon cutting ceremony featured past and present leaders as well as a vast array of rockets, bombs, missiles and other ordnance.

Officially designated the U.S. Naval Museum of Armament and Technology by the Secretary of Navy on May 12 this year, it houses a wide array of hardware and displays of current and historic weapons. This is now one of only 13 official U.S. Navy museums around the world.

The museum features missiles, rockets, bombs and artifacts representing the development and history of applying high technology to the weapons world. The exhibits begin with aerial rockets developed for WWII, continue through development of conventional bombs and then track the application of modern science to the challenges of weapons developments for nearly six decades.

Familiar missile names like Sidewinder,Shrike and Walleye were born in secrecy in this remote desert location and became the foundation of the arsenals of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as America's allies around the world. Also included are weapons with unfamiliar names like Agile, Condor and others that were instrumental in the overall development of advanced weaponry. Those weapons and others resulted in what is now known as 'precision guided munitions." This museum houses the largest collection of weapons hardware and artifacts available to the public in the free world.

China Lake, known worldwide for its work with air launched conventional ordnance, also was heavily involved in the development of the atomic bomb and the submarine launched Polaris missile. That work, along with a Polaris Missile, is also documented in the museum. As the museum matures it will continue to add additional features showing the results of the military/civilian team at China Lake.