RAAF Base Edinburgh
RAAF Base Edinburgh | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | RAAF | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Edinburgh, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Occupants | |||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 67 ft / 20 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°42′09″S 138°37′15″E / 34.70250°S 138.62083°E | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  YPED Location in South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Royal Australian Air Force Base Edinburgh (ICAO: YPED) is located in Edinburgh, 25 km (16 mi) north of the centre of Adelaide, South Australia.
It is primarily home to No 92 Wing and their Lockheed AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft that conduct surveillance operations throughout Australia's airspace. However, after an extensive building program over the course of 2010-2011, it has also become the home of 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and some smaller units. This has pushed the daily working population of RAAF Base Edinburgh beyond 4,500 from 6am-6pm.
Aerospace Operational Support Group (AOSG) conducts research and development on aircraft and weapons through the flight test squadron, ARDU, and conducts a wide range of defence systems test and evaluation activities at the Woomera Test Range (WTR), controlled through Headquarters Woomera Test Range (HQWTR), a wing-level agency unit within AOSG.
RAAF Base Edinburgh is also home to No. 87 Squadron, Air Force Intelligence.
History
RAAF Edinburgh was constructed in 1955 as a support base for weapons development at the joint UK-Australian Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) at Woomera. This support had previously been temporarily based at Mallala.[2] The base was located alongside the wartime Salisbury Explosives factory,[3] in open fields between the then country villages of Salisbury (to the south) and Smithfield (to the north). At about the same time, the satellite town of Elizabeth was being established (to the east).
Support for WRE testing activities had greatly reduced by the late 1960s. Edinburgh's major role changed in 1977 when No. 10 Reconnaissance Squadron was relocated to South Australia from RAAF Base Townsville, which had been the centre of Australia's maritime reconnaissance operations since the Second World War. RAAF Base Edinburgh has since been home to the RAAF's Maritime Patrol Group, as well as No 1 Recruit Training Unit, the Institute of Aviation Medicine (AVMED) and the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU).[4]
Originally, RAAF Edinburgh and the DSTO were located in Salisbury, (subsequently the suburb of Salisbury - Postcode 5108), in the City of Salisbury. In 1997, the Department of Defence decided to rationalise the then "DSTO Salisbury" site and sell off about 70% of the site, and surrounding "Defence-owned" Crown land, to form the "Edinburgh Parks" industrial estate. The suburb of Salisbury was split in two, with the part containing the RAAF Base and DSTO renamed "Edinburgh" (after the RAAF Base). The new suburb was assigned the Postcode 5111.
In 2017 it was announced that the main runway would be extended by 275m to enable it to be used by the new Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft, which are replacing the Lockheed AP-3C Orion fleet.[5]
Environmental contamination
In 2016 concerns were raised about perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used in fire fighting foams at the base until 2004, being found in groundwater at the base and in nearby wetlands.[6][7]
RAAF Units
| Surveillance and Response Group | |
|---|---|
| No 92 Wing - maritime operations | |
| 10SQN | No. 10 Squadron - AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft |
| 11SQN | No. 11 Squadron - AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft |
| Others | |
| 292SQN | No. 292 Squadron - Trains air and ground crew for the AP-3C Orion |
| 1RSU | No. 1 Radar Surveillance Unit |
| 44WG DET EDN | No. 44 Wing Detachment Edinburgh - Air Traffic Control |
| Aerospace Operational Support Group | |
| Information Warfare Directorate (TU 646.7.1) | |
| JEWOSU | Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Unit |
| RAAF AIS | RAAF Aeronautical Information Service |
| 87SQN | No. 87 Squadron - Air Intelligence |
| 462SQN | No. 462 Squadron - information security |
| Development and Test Wing (DTWG) | |
| ARDU | Aircraft Research and Development Unit |
| ASE SQN | ARDU Systems Engineering Squadron |
| ASCENG SQN | Aircraft/Stores Compatibility Engineering Agency |
| AVMED | Institute of Aviation Medicine |
| Woomera Test Range (TU 646.7.3) | |
| HQWTR | Headquarters Woomera Test Range |
| WTROPS | WTR Range Operations Branch |
| WRA | RAAF Woomera Airfield |
| WPA | Woomera Prohibited Area |
| WTRENG | WTR Range Engineering Branch |
| Combat Support Group | |
| 1AFDS | No. 1 Airfield Defence Squadron - Airfield Defence Guards |
| 24SQN | No. 24 Squadron - RAAF Edinburgh Combat Support |
The main aircraft type operating from Edinburgh is the AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. However, the base has recently (2006–2011) undergone a massive upgrade to accommodate 7RAR and supporting army units.
Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU)
The Aircraft Research and Development Unit, first established in 1944, is now a squadron of AOSG's Development and Test Wing (DTWG). Based at RAAF Edinburgh, ARDU provides specialist Australian Defence Force aerospace testing and evaluation of new weapons and aircraft into the RAAF and ADF arsenal.
| permanently | temporarily |
|---|---|
| Pilatus PC-9 | Eurocopter Tiger |
| Boeing F/A-18 Hornet | |
| Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk | MRH-90 |
| Beechcraft Super King Air |
Woomera Test Range (WTR)
The WTR is the Western world's largest defence systems test range and is an Australian icon. The range covers 127,000 km2 (49,000 sq mi) (roughly the size of England or the US State of Florida). It is controlled by HQWTR located at RAAF Edinburgh, but is supported directly from Woomera Village. The range is approximately 460 km (290 mi) north-west of Adelaide.
7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
See also
References
- ^ YPED – Edinburgh (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 13 June 2024, Aeronautical Chart
- ^ Mallala, RAAF Museum
- ^ The wartime Salisbury Explosives factory became the Long Range Weapons Establishment, subsequently the Weapons Research Establishment (WRE), the Defence Research Centre, Salisbury (DRCS), and now, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO)
- ^ Edinburgh, RAAF Museum
- ^ Part of Penfield Road in Adelaide to be closed off so runway at RAAF Base Edinburgh can be extended Northern Messenger, 13 July 21017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- ^ Turnbull pledges blood tests for RAAF base toxic leak amid Defence probe The Advertiser, 15 June 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- ^ Defence Department holds public meeting to inform residents in Adelaide’s north about its inquiry into cancer-causing toxins at the Edinburgh RAAF base The Advertiser, 13 October 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
External links
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| Flying boat bases | ||
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