Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles (133 km) north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. At its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield. The base's primary purpose is to support development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. The base is in the United States Air Force's Nevada Test and Training Range NTTR, formerly called the Nellis Air Force Range NAFR. Although the facilities at the range are managed by the 99th Air Base Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, the Groom facility appears to be run as an adjunct of the Air Force Flight Test Center AFFTC at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, around 186 miles (300 km) southwest of Groom, and as such the base is known as Air Force Flight Test Center Detachment 3.