Woomera Test Range

Woomera Test Range

The RAAF Woomera Test Range (WTR, previously known as the Woomera Test Facility, the Woomera Rocket Range, and the Long Range Weapons Establishment, Woomera) is a weapons testing range operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Aerospace Operational Support Group. The day-to-day operation and administration of the WTR is the responsbility of Headquarters, RAAF Woomera Test Range, based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. The range facility itself is located in South Australia, in that State's north-west pastoral region. The gateway to the Range is the Defence support base Woomera, long referred to as 'Woomera Village'. The Woomera support base is located approximately 500 kilometres (310 mi) north-west of Adelaide. The Range, however, covers a massive area, and is the largest land-based weapons test facility in the world. The Woomera Test Range was identified in 2007 by the national Defence Capability Investment Committee as a 'strategic national asset'.

The range complex is made up of the Woomera Prohibited Area (WPA, the groundspace of the range), the Woomera Restricted Airspace (WRX, the associated airspace), the support village of Woomera, South Australia, RAAF Woomera Airfield (the airfield supporting the range), and Camp Rapier (the former Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre). The nearby Nurrungar Test Area Woomera (NTAW), which was the former site of the USAF/ADF Joint Defense Facility Nurrungar, is now also part of the wider Woomera Test Range complex Woomera village has a standard population of 150 to 200 Australian Defence Force personnel, but can provide accommodation and services for to up to 500 range users per day. Details of the Eldo service can be found at:. Although the range itself is closed to the public, the support base area (i.e. "Woomera Village") is open to the public and receives many thousands of visitors each year.