Delamere Air Weapons Range is a

bombing range A bombing range usually refers to a remote military aerial bombing and gunnery training range used by combat aircraft to attack ground targets (air-to-ground bombing), or a remote area reserved for researching, developing, testing and evaluatin ...

operated by the

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

(RAAF), located in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. The facility is located about south of the town of

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and Catherina, other variations are feminine Given name, names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria ...

and

RAAF Base Tindal RAAF Base Tindal is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base and civil aviation airfield located east southeast of the town of Katherine, Northern Territory in Australia. The base is currently home to No. 75 Squadron and a nu ...

, Australia's largest airbase. The Delamere facility is managed round-the-clock by a detachment of eight members of the No. 322 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron RAAF. Its large area——and of vertical airspace clearance allow virtually unrestricted freedom of tactical testing and training using any

conventional weapon The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons whose ability to damage comes from kinetic, incendiary, or explosive energy and exclude weapons of mass destruction (''e.g.'' nuclear, biological, radiological and c ...

s. In addition to its large mass inert weapon range, Delamere also has two practice ranges for smaller weapons testing, a simulated airfield complex, and a simulated township constructed from shipping containers named "Tac Town". Delamere is east of the larger Bradshaw Field Training Area which has an area of , and the Department of Defence has considered acquiring land between the two facilities to merge them. Both areas are used for joint military exercises such as the Australia–United States

Exercise Talisman Saber Exercise Talisman Sabre (also formerly spelled Talisman Saber, the US English alternative title) is a biennial, multinational military exercise led by Australia and the United States. Talisman Sabre involves joint exercises performed by the Austr ...

. Delamere is electronically linked with Bradshaw Field and

Mount Bundey Training Area The Mount Bundey Training Area (MBTA) is a 117,300 ha. military training area in Australia, 75km south-east of Humpty Doo, south of the Arnhem Highway, between the Mary River and Kakadu National Park. Formerly a cattle station, the propert ...

to form the North Australian Range Complex. The range is served by its own airfield, Delamere Range Facility Airport .

References

{{authority control Military installations in the Northern Territory Bombing ranges 1988 establishments in Australia Airports in the Northern Territory Katherine, Northern Territory Royal Australian Air Force bases Military installations established in 1988

See also

References