SECRET CITY COMBINES actual laboratory, test range, and combat footage and photos--some never before released to the public--with over 50 interviews of noted China Lakers and a wealth of historical documentation to tell the story of this huge Navy base in the middle of the desert--its laboratories and ranges, its on-board community, its unparalleled accomplishments, its unique heritage.

PART I OF SECRET CITY centers on the WWII establishment of NOTS, its early growth, its involvement in the Manhattan Project, and the building of a full-scale military-civilian community far from any metropolitan center. Early rocket programs, such as Tiny Tim, and the foundations of the China Lake philosophy are highlighted, as is the Korean War crash rocket program Project Ram. Part I also includes the fascinating history of the surrounding area, from the early Shoshone inhabitants to the coming of the Navy, and of the outside-the-gate communities of Ridgecrest and Inyokern.

PART II OF SECRET CITY begins with the 1950s explosion of R&D work at NOTS--rockets, torpedoes, nuclear weapons, aircraft systems--and highlights its pivotal role in Polaris; the history of Sidewinder; and the story of "NOTSNIK," an answer to Sputnik. Part II takes China Lake through the Cold War, the weapon-a-week years of Vietnam, the transition to the Naval Weapons Center, the post-Vietnam drawdown, the build-up of the 1980s, and the reorganizations of the post-Cold War era. Included are programs such as the "Eye" weapons, Shrike, and Walleye; submarine fighters, talking dolphins, FLIR systems, and satellite killers; the changing China Lake community; and the people who made things happen.

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