Can the Air Force use bombing ranges at Nellis AFB, instead of Leach Lake?
The Air Force does use bombing ranges at Nellis AFB; however, an aircraft can only stay airborne for a limited time. Using a large portion of that time to access Nellis ranges greatly limits the time available to fly to NTC for Air Warrior combat missions. In addition, the Nellis range is too small to allow the kind of training exercises possible at Leach Lake. Finally, Leach Lake is also used as an emergency jettison range for live ordnance to ensure aircrew safety during Air Warrior exercises.
