To accomplish national defense missions, U.S. military services must have access to military ranges, operating areas, and sufficient airspace where they can train service members and personnel, and test ships, submarines, aircraft, and weapons systems to defend the United States, its allies, and its interests.

At-sea military readiness activities, which were last analyzed in the 2018 Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing EIS and the 2022 Point Mugu Sea Range EIS, include training and research, development, testing, and evaluation activities, which are referred to in this presentation as “training and testing.” 

Proposed training and testing activities may include the use of active sonar, explosives, and other sources of underwater sound. The Navy would continue to employ appropriate marine species protective mitigation measures when conducting these activities.

The Navy also proposes to implement actions to modernize and sustain ranges in the Study Area, including the establishment of new special use airspace.