16 Regiment RA
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16 Regiment Royal Artillery is a
regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
of the
Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
in the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. It currently serves in the Ground Based Air Defence role and is equipped with the Sky Sabre air defence missile system and Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP). One of its Sky Sabre batteries is always deployed to the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
.


History

The regiment was established in 1947 when 2nd Coast Regiment Royal Artillery was retitled 16 Coast Regiment Royal Artillery. As 16 Light Air Defence Regiment it was deployed to
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
in 1965. It undertook tours in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
during
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
in 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1979, 1988 and 1993 and 14 Battery took part in the
Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
in 1982. It was posted to Rapier Barracks at
Kirton in Lindsey Kirton in Lindsey, also abbreviated to Kirton Lindsey, is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is south-east from Scunthorpe. History Catherine Parr, the Wives of Henry VIII, sixth wif ...
in 1985, seemingly swapping with
12th Air Defence Regiment Royal Artillery 12 Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the air defence role, and is equipped with the Starstreak missile. History The regiment was established in 1947 when the 7th Regiment ...
. The regiment was posted in Napier Barracks in
Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
in 1992 and renamed 16th Regiment RA in 1993 whilst based there. It was relocated back to Centaur Barracks at
Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...
in England in 1995 and 14 Battery was deployed to the
Maze prison HM Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as the Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...
and West Belfast at the end of the summer in 1996. The working garages at Centaur Barracks were replaced with Napier Lines which were sited alongside the main hub RA barracks in 1998. The regiment then deployed to South Armagh to start its final tour of
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
in 1998. A UN tour to
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
marked the start of the new millennium. In August 2007, the regiment relocated to St George's Barracks in
Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...
from
Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...
. Its departure from the
Royal Artillery Barracks Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, is a barracks of the British Army which forms part of Woolwich Garrison. The Royal Regiment of Artillery had its headquarters here from 1776 until 2007, when it was moved to Larkhill Garrison. History In 171 ...
, where the
Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
had been based since 1716, was marked with a ceremony on 25 July 2007. In July 2014, the regiment moved to Baker Barracks, Thorney Island. The regiment was part of the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
Air Security Force, deploying Rapier FSC Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) systems as part of Exercise Olympic Guardian.


Role

Previously it also provided the now out of service
Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar Counter rocket, artillery, and mortar, abbreviated C-RAM or counter-RAM, is a set of systems used to detect and/or destroy incoming rocket artillery, rockets, artillery, and mortar (weapon), mortars before they hit their targets, or provide ea ...
(C-RAM) and Automated Sense & Warn (AS&W)
Urgent Operational Requirement An Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) is a system used by the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) to obtain urgent equipment for operations. UORs supplement the MOD's long-term planned procurement programme, and are funded by extra Treasury money ...
(UOR) capabilities on
Operation TELIC Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...
(Iraq) and
Operation HERRICK Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assi ...
(Afghanistan) respectively. In January 2021, the regiment began training with the new Sky Sabre air defence missile system, which in January 2022 fully replaced the previously used Rapier FSC Air Defence System.


Batteries

The unit has the following batteries: *11 (Sphinx) Battery Royal Artillery - Sky Sabre Battery *14 (Cole's Kop) Battery Royal Artillery - Sky Sabre Battery * 20 Battery Royal Artillery - Headquarters Battery * 30 Battery (Rogers's Company) Royal Artillery - Sky Sabre Battery *32 (Minden) Battery Royal Artillery - Sky Sabre Battery * 49 (Inkerman) Battery Royal Artillery - Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP)


References


External links


Official site
{{British Army Artillery Regiments Royal Artillery regiments Air defence regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1947