But anyone visiting this vast stretch of the Chihuahan Desert can find eye- catching activities unfolding in every direction. One such site is the aerial cable range, operated by Lockheed for the range's development subdirectorate. The range tests warning systems that alert military pilots to inbound enemy missiles.
Controllers can present moving or static targets.
The alternative, he said, is overwater testing with drones. Ariz. Weapons testers place experimental warning systems on the helicopter body, which are wired to computers in a carrier that attaches the helicopter to the aerial cable. Once all the experiments are on board the target platform, operators activate the cable system, which works like a ski lift, slowly moving the platform up toward 8,460-foot Jin Peak. Fixed and mobile instruments prepare to capture data from the target from positions on the mountainside, in the valley and aboard the target. Testers can fire missiles from any of 10 sites a kilometer apart, stretching down the length of the mountain valley.