Woomera Test Range

WOOMERA AIR FORCE BASE AUSTRALIA

This is the outsides of the Woomera Army base in Australia, only about an hour and a bit down the road, they have some awesome stuff on display, DO you think they'd notice if I took just 1 rocket?

History

Bloodhound Guided Missile ICBM Launched at Woomera Australia Test Range RAAF (1958)-0

British Pathe or BP takes Australian film of Missile ICBM Woomera Australia Bloodhound target to hit with aircraft plane.

Fulton Hogan - RAAF Woomera Overlay-0

Resurface of runways, taxiways and aprons at RAAF Woomera, South Australia. Project completed December 2014 by Fulton Hogan, Australasia’s leading contractor in airport runway construction, surfacing & maintenance.

Township

"Woomera Village" as it has been unofficially known since its establishment in 1947 has always been and continues to be the domestic support facility for the Woomera Test Range (formerly called "the Woomera Rocket Range"). The WPA covers an area of approximately 122,000 km2 (as of November 2014) forms the essential ground area of the whole Range Complex. The Nurrungar Test Area (NTA) is 18 km south of Woomera, and although not within the WPA, it is under the operational control of Woomera Range Headquarters in Adelaide.

The simple name, Woomera, refers to a town located in South Australia's Far North region, approximately 446 kilometres (277 mi) north of Adelaide, the capital of the State of South Australia. In common usage, "Woomera" also refers to the wider "Woomera Range Complex" (WRC), a huge Defence systems testing range covering an area of approximately 122,000 square kilometres (47,000 sq mi) (an area roughly the size of England).

RAAF base and test sites

The Woomeara Test Range, as it was formerly known, was a rocket testing facility created in the wake of the emergent Cold War split in 1947. The centre line of the airfield was surveyed by Len Beadell in early 1947.

The first aircraft to use the field, a Dakota, landed at Woomera on Thursday 19 June 1947. It brought General Evetts and a party of British scientists to inspect the airfield which had just been completed.

Germany's use of V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets during World War II prompted the British to establish their own rocket testing programme. However, the density of population in the United Kingdom made testing risky, so the British turned to Australia, asking for a site with a long testing corridor containing minimal population.

The range was constructed at its current location as it avoided major civilian areas and it provided for a long testing corridor. Since the early 1950s there were around 6,000 rocket launches conducted by a joint Australia-United Kingdom task force weapons and aerospace test in the far west of the WPA at EMU and TARANAKI test sites. British Bloodhound anti-aircraft missile, Blue Streak and Blue Steel missiles were launched from the site periodicaly.

During the 1950s, nuclear testing took place here when the United Kingdom conducted ground-based tests of nuclear weapons. These sites were later 'cleaned up' by the UK under a massive environmental remediation program. Various other projects were conducted to evaluate air and space capabilities.

RAAF Bace Woomera

The RAAF (the Aussie air-force) still maintains an major airbase there.

Rocketry

Germany's use of V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets during World War II prompted the British to establish their own rocket testing programme. However, the density of population in the United Kingdom made testing risky, so the British turned to Australia, asking for a site with a long testing corridor containing minimal population.

British Blue Streek missiles and Blue Steel missiles were launched from the site periodically. RAF Upavon was a proposed Blue Streak missile/rocket launch site, but was soon turned down after it was believed that the missiles would be better off in silos at RAF Spadeadam and would be test launched at Woomera Test Range in Australia due to the large open spaces available down under.

Today Aussie anti-shipping missiles and British UAVs are tested there.

The Space Race

WRESAT was launched here on 29th, November 1967.

Atomic test blast controversy

Prior to selection, the Maralinga site was inhabited by the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal people, for whom it had a "great spiritual significance". Many were relocated to a new settlement at Yulata, and attempts were made to curtail access to the Maralinga site. These were often unsuccessful.

British nuclear tests at Maralinga were a series of seven nuclear tests conducted within the Woomera test range area between 1955 and 1963. Two major test series were conducted at the Maralinga site: Operation Buffalo and Operation Antler, intentional killing several Abos and Aussies in the process.

The site was contaminated with radioactive materials and an initial cleanup was attempted in 1967. The McClelland Royal Commission, an examination of the effects of the tests, delivered its report in 1985, and found that significant radiation hazards still existed at many of the Maralinga test areas. It recommended another cleanup, which was completed in 2000 at a cost of $108 million. Debate continued over the safety of the site and the long-term health effects on the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land and former personnel. In 1994, the Australian Government paid compensation amounting to $13.5 million to the local Maralinga Tjarutja people.

Minerals

The South Australian Government and Geoscience Australia prospectors have assessed that over the next decade that about $35 billion worth of iron ore, gold and to a lesser degree, other mineral resources are potentially exploitable from within the larger and all encompassing Woomera Protected Area.

Also see

1. Atomic accidents and disasters
2. Nevada Test and Training Range
3. Thule Air Base, Greenland
4. Kura (Kama) Test Range
5. Vandenberg Air Force Base
6. WRESAT
7. RAAF Bace Woomera

Sources

1. http://www.airforce.gov.au/RAAFBases/South-Australia/RAAF-Base-Woomera/?RAAF-C8gd7HXTkHs28T3PE17Cu06X5YWV7e0W
2. http://www.defence.gov.au/woomera/about.htm
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woomera_Test_Range
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAAF_Woomera_Airfield
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nuclear_tests_at_Maralinga
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maralinga_Tjarutja
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woomera,_South_Australia
8. http://www.airforce.gov.au/RAAFBases/South-Australia/RAAF-Base-Woomera/?RAAF-C8gd7HXTkHs28T3PE17Cu06X5YWV7e0W
9. http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/baes-superdrone-taranis-to-be-tested-at-woomera/story-fn5fsgyc-1226619892302
10. http://video.news.com.au/v/59734/Missiles-exploding-at-Woomera