Ridgecrest highlight
High desert community adjacent to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, the Navy's largest single landholding at more than 1.1 million acres, was established in 1943 and remains central to Ridgecrest's economy and identity.
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake occupies the vast majority of the Indian Wells Valley, a high-desert basin in northeastern Kern County. The installation was founded in November 1943 as the Naval Ordnance Test Station on land that had hosted an emergency airfield since the 1930s. The name comes from the dry lakebed where Chinese borax prospectors once worked, leaving behind their claim to the landscape.
China Lake spans more than 1.1 million acres—larger than Rhode Island—making it the United States Navy's largest single landholding. The installation was renamed the Naval Weapons Center in 1967 and became a Naval Air Weapons Station in 1992. Scientists working there developed the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile in 1950, which became the world's most widely used and copied air-to-air missile and remains in service today.
For Ridgecrest families, the Naval installation shapes employment, community character, and long-term planning. Many households include active-duty personnel, civilian employees, or retirees whose financial security depends on steady income and predictable benefits. A term life insurance policy sized to your family's needs and your working years is the practical step that mirrors the stability you seek.