Defence White Paper: Woomera military testing ground gets $500m for upgrade

THE Woomera military testing ground in Far North South Australia has been allocated $500 million to $750 million for upgrading.

Live firing on the Woomera, South Australia range of a Hellfire missile from a Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter. Deep caption Testing of the firepower capability of the Hellfire missile system integrated into the Australian Army?s new Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) was successfully completed on 7 December 2005. The aim of the Hellfire Test Campaign was to certify the weapon for service use on the ARH. The Hellfire Test Campaign was conducted in two phases at Woomera, South Australia, South Australia, as a cooperative activity between Australian Aerospace Pty Ltd (the Australian subsidiary of Eurocopter) and the Defence Materiel Organisation. Phase One was completed in May 2005 with the launch of the first practice missile. Phase Two concluded on 7 December 2005 with the successful firing of seven missiles, three of which were fitted with live warheads.

• White paper: Australia’s Defence future launched

THE Woomera military testing ground in Far North South Australia has been allocated $500 million to $750 million for upgrading.

“The Woomera range complex is a critical national asset; it is an internationally unique facility able to support leading-edge systems,” the Defence White Papers say.

“It provides a large, secure and remote training and testing area that could not be replicated anywhere else in Australia without major investment.”

The Woomera range is used by the Defence Science and Technology Group and the Air Force for testing and evaluating weapons systems.

Its remote location provides plenty of uncluttered airspace for aircraft and missiles.

Being far from cities also means it is quiet electronically for testing communications and electronic warfare systems.

LIVE FIRE: A Tiger helicopter test-fires a Hellfire missile at the Woomera range.

“With increased co-operation and joint exercises and training with the United States and other security partners, the demands on facilities such as Woomera are likely to increase,” the papers say.

“As such, additional investment is programmed within the decade to 2025—26 to ensure

Woomera continues to support increasing demands.”

The papers did not specify what the upgrade would involve nor whether it would be conducted by the private or public sectors.

The Cultana training space between Port Augusta and Whyalla also will need upgrading, the papers said without providing detail.