TWENTYNINE PALMS (AP) — A 1,560-building mock city has risen in the Southern California desert.

The $170 million Marine Corps urban training center at the Twentynine Palms military base, some 130 miles northeast of Los Angeles, is roughly the size of San Diego.

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center facility uses mock cities and role players to prepare Marines and sailors for urban terrain missions.

The Palm Springs Desert Sun says the new center, debuting Tuesday, expands on a similar training program called Mojave Viper, which launched in 2005 to prepare troops for the war and life in Iraq.

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