16th Air Land Regiment , Royal Australian Artillery The 16th Air Land Regiment is the Australian Army ' s only ground - based air defence unit . Part of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery ( RAA ) , the regiment is responsible for protecting a wide range of military assets during wartime , ranging from Army units in the field to providing point defence to the Royal Australian Navy ' s support ships and air defence to Royal Australian Air Force air bases . Prior to being equipped with the currently in - service RBS - 70 surface - to - air missile system , the regiment was equipped with the Rapier systems for 25 years . The regiment is based at Woodside , South Australia , but frequently deploys with other Australian and allied units on operations and defence exercises . It is part of 6th Brigade . History . The regiment is considered to be the " youngest " regiment of the RAA and has its genesis in the amalgamation of two previously independent batteries at Woodside Barracks in South Australia . On 2 July 1969 , the 111th LAA Battery and 110th LAA Battery were grouped together to become the 16th Light Anti - Aircraft Regiment . The 111th had been raised in 1957 and had served in Malaysia during Confrontation during 1964 – 66 , while the 110th had been raised in 1965 and replaced the 111th in Malaysia in June 1966 , but returned to Australia shortly afterwards after the conflict came to an end . Upon formation , the regiment was initially equipped with the QF 40 mm Mark XII anti - aircraft gun and was placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel D . J . Ashmore . During this time , the regiment deployed small numbers of personnel to operate the Bofors guns upon the landing craft of the Royal Australian Engineers ' 32nd Small Ships Squadron during the Vietnam War . During 1971 , the regiment experienced a manning shortage which resulted in the 110th Battery being placed in " suspended animation " , as the regiment was only able to staff one battery . In 1973 , the Bofors gun was replaced by the Redeye surface to air missile system . The following year the regiment was redesignated as the 16th Air Defence Regiment . The 110th was re - raised in 1978 as the Army moved towards the purchase of a new surface - to - air missile system called the Rapier . At the same time the 111th was re - allocated to the 1st Division as a division air defence battery , although it remained under the regiment ' s command for administrative purposes . On 1 July that year , the regiment was redesignated the 16th Air Defence Regiment . In 1979 – 80 , the 110th Air Defence Battery received the Rapier surface to air missile system . The following year , the regiment deployed the new capability in August during an exercise at Cultana in August , with the first regimental firing taking place the following November at Beercroft . In 1984 , the regiment undertook its largest exercise to that point , deploying to Darwin on 76 flat - bed trucks . The 111th Air Defence Battery replaced the Redeye with the RBS - 70 surface to air missile system in 1987 . Four years later , in 1991 , the regiment deployed detachments aboard HMAS " Success " and " Westralia " as part of Australia ' s contribution to the Persian Gulf War . In May 2003 , the regiment again deployed a detachment in support of the Royal Australian Navy when a detachment was sent on board HMAS " Kanimbla " during the invasion of Iraq . In 2005 , the 110th Air Defence Battery replaced Rapier with the RBS - 70 . The regiment has committed air defence batteries to serve as infantry on Operation Astute on two occasions . In 2006 , the regiment deployed the 111th Air Defence Battery to Timor Leste as Golf Company of the ANZAC Battle Group . In October 2008 , the 110th Air Defence Battery was re - rolled as Golf Company , Timor Leste Battle Group Five , led by the 5th Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment . They returned to Australia in June 2009 . On 1 March 2010 , the 16th Air Defence Regiment became part of the re - raised 6th Brigade . Since December 2010 the unit has had members deployed to Operation Slipper in Afghanistan , manning the Counter Rocket , Artillery , and Mortar system deployed to the Multi National Base in Tarin Kot . Other systems were deployed to outlying Patrol Bases mainly within Uruzgan Province , however with the scaling down of the ADF ' s commitment to Operation Slipper these were withdrawn in late 2012 . The regiment has also provided personnel to Operation Mazurka , where they are deployed in a peacekeeping role with the United Nations monitoring the border between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai . On 9 December 2011 , the 16th Air Defence Regiment amalgamated with the 1st Ground Liaison Group to form the 16th Air Land Regiment . Structure . The regiment currently consists of : The 110th Air Defence Battery is equipped with the RBS - 70 surface to air missile system and the Portable Search and Target Acquisition Radar – Extended Range ( PSTAR - ER ) . For mobility they currently use an air defence variant of the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle . The 111th Sense Warn and Locate ( SWnL ) Battery is equipped with the AN / TPQ - 48 Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar ( LCMR ) and the G - AMB GIRAFFE Full Operational Capability Radar for detection of rockets and mortars . 1st Air Ground Ops Battery controls the Australian Army ' s Joint terminal attack controller ( JTAC ) Troop . It also contains two air - land integration cells . The regiment houses a training centre equipped with an Advanced Air Defence Simulator . This consists of high definition projectors inside a dome structure allowing a single RBS - 70 detachment to simulate a realistic 360 - degree training environment . The simulator is maintained by BAE Systems and was upgraded in 2011 .