RAAF Base Edinburgh is a

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF)

military airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

located in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

approximately north of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

, Australia and forms part of the Edinburgh Defence Precinct. The base is primarily home to No 92 Wing and their

Lockheed AP-3C Orion The Lockheed AP-3C Orion is a variant of the P-3 Orion used by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for tasks such as naval fleet support, maritime surveillance, search and survivor supply and anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare. The 18 AP ...

and

Boeing P-8 Poseidon The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and derived from the civilian Boeing 737-800. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN). T ...

maritime patrol aircraft that conduct surveillance operations throughout Australia's region of interest. The base is also the home of the

Air Warfare Centre The Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) is a Royal Air Force research and testing organisation based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. It has a training branch nearby as a lodger unit of RAF Cranwell and other branches elsewhere, including a ...

which is responsible through its Air Force Ranges Directorate for the Woomera Test Range. The base has over the past decade become home to elements of the 1st Brigade of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

History

The construction of RAAF Base Edinburgh commenced in 1953 and it was officially opened 22 March 1954 as a support base for weapons development at the joint UK-Australian Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) at Woomera and Maralinga. The support base had previously been based at a small Edinburgh Airfield and at

RAAF Base Mallala RAAF Base Mallala was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base at Mallala, South Australia. History Since 1939, the RAAF was aware of a suitable airfield at Mallala. On 25 February 1941 a group of officers conducted a detailed assessment of the ...

. The base was located alongside the wartime

Salisbury Explosives Factory Edinburgh is an outer northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Salisbury. The suburb was created in 1997, on land straddling Penfield and Salisbury, that was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth Government in 1940 in or ...

, in open fields between the then country villages of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

(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. In 1968, No. 11 Squadron relocated to Edinburgh operating Orions. In the late 1970s, No. 10 Squadron also operating Orions relocated to Edinburgh and a maritime patrol wing No. 92 Wing was established at Edinburgh making it the primary base for Australia's maritime reconnaissance operations. RAAF Base Edinburgh has since been home to No 1 Recruit Training Unit, the Institute of Aviation Medicine (AVMED) and the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU). Originally, RAAF Edinburgh and the DSTO were located in Salisbury, (subsequently the suburb of Salisbury –

Postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, includ ...

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 Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...

, 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. On 5 December 2003, stage one of the redevelopment of the base was opened including facilities for the newly formed

Aerospace Operational Support Group The Aerospace Operational Support Group was a support group of the Australian Defence Force based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. It was disbanded in 2016, and reformed as the Air Warfare Centre The Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) is a Royal A ...

, and for the Aircraft Research and Development Unit which had relocated from DSTO Salisbury, and for Defence Materiel Organisation units - the Maritime Patrol System Program office and the Aeronautical Life Support Logistics Management Unit. In August 2012, stage two of the redevelopment of the base was completed including a new air traffic control tower and facilities for No. 462 Squadron, which had relocated from Canberra, and for No. 87 Squadron. On 19 November 2017, the Defence Minister announced that the base would be upgraded to operate the P-8A Poseidon including new facilities, infrastructure and airfield works with a strengthened and extended runway (by ). In November 2019, the base held the 'Edinburgh Air Show 2019' over two days the 9th and 10th.

Environmental contamination

In 2016 concerns were raised about perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and

perfluorooctanoic acid Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; conjugate base perfluorooctanoate; also known colloquially as C8, for its 8 carbon chain structure) is a perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical processes a ...

(PFOA), used in fire fighting foams at the base until 2004, being found in groundwater at the base and in nearby wetlands. A 2014 report from the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...

described PFOA and PFOS as emergent contaminants that are "extremely persistent in the environment and resistant to typical environmental degradation processes" and which consequently pose "potential adverse effects for the environment and human health" due to their toxicity, mobility, and ability to

bioaccumulation Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals, in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost or eliminated ...

Current Air Force units

Army 1st Brigade

The Hardened and Networked Army plan was announced in December 2005 to relocate elements of the Australian Army's 1st Brigade to RAAF Base Edinburgh which was later altered by the Enhanced Land Force plan released in August 2006 changing the mechanised infantry battalion to be relocated. An extensive building program was undertaken to provide new working accommodation and joint Army and RAAF training facilities, a combined mess, fitness, health and community facilities. On 9 September 2011, the new facilities were officially opened with the

7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7 RAR) is a regular infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1965 as part of Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War and it eventually served two tours in Vietnam in ...

(7 RAR) a mechanised infantry battalion housed at Horseshoe Lines. 7 RAR had relocated from

Robertson Barracks Robertson Barracks is a major Australian Army base located in the Northern Territory of Australia within the suburb of Holtze in the Municipality of Litchfield about east of the Darwin city centre. The barracks were built during the 1990s. Th ...

in Darwin earlier in the year in January. The new facilities housed other relocated units including the 102nd (Coral) Battery from

8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery The 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, was formed at the Holsworthy Barracks on 16 November 1973 through the amalgamation of the 8th Medium Regiment (RAA) and the 12th Field Regiment (RAA). The Regiment provides field artillery supp ...

, 9th Field Squadron from 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, 1st Combat Services Support Team from 1st Combat Service Support Battalion and a detachment from Headquarters 1st Brigade. In November 2017, the 1st Armoured Regiment relocated from Robertson Barracks to Chauvel Lines at RAAF Base Edinburgh as part of the

Plan Beersheba Plan Beersheba was a significant restructure of the Australian Army, announced in 2011. The process of implementing the organisational changes began in 2014, and was completed in 2017. Changes to the regular Army Under Plan Beersheba, the Army's ...

reorganisation of the Army. D Squadron had earlier relocated in January 2014.

Current Army units

The following units are based at RAAF Base Edinburgh: *1st Brigade Headquarters (Southern Detachment) **1st Armoured Regiment ***Headquarters Squadron ***A Squadron – Cavalry (equipped with the ASLAV) ***B Squadron – Tank (equipped with the M1A1 Abrams) ***C Squadron – Cavalry (equipped with the ASLAV) ***Support Squadron **7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment ***Battalion Headquarters ***Rifle Companies (Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie) ***Support Company ***Administration Company **1st Combat Service Support Team (1st Combat Service Support Battalion)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edinburgh Royal Australian Air Force bases Buildings and structures in Adelaide Airports in South Australia Military airbases established in 1955 Military installations in South Australia 1955 establishments in Australia