RAAF Base Edinburgh Royal Australian Air Force Base Edinburgh is located in Edinburgh , north of the centre of Adelaide , South Australia . It is primarily home to No 92 Wing and their Lockheed AP - 3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft that conduct surveillance operations throughout Australia ' s airspace . However , after an extensive building program over the course of 2010 - 2011 , it has also become the home of 7th Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment and some smaller units . This has pushed the daily working population of RAAF Base Edinburgh beyond 4 , 500 from 6am - 6pm . Aerospace Operational Support Group ( AOSG ) conducts research and development on aircraft and weapons through the flight test squadron , ARDU , and conducts a wide range of defence systems test and evaluation activities at the Woomera Test Range ( WTR ) , controlled through Headquarters Woomera Test Range ( HQWTR ) , a wing - level agency unit within AOSG . RAAF Base Edinburgh is also home to No . 87 Squadron , Air Force Intelligence . History . RAAF Edinburgh was constructed in 1955 as a support base for weapons development at the joint UK - Australian Weapons Research Establishment ( WRE ) at Woomera . This support had previously been temporarily based at Mallala . The base was located alongside the wartime Salisbury Explosives factory , in open fields between the then country villages of Salisbury ( to the south ) and Smithfield ( to the north ) . At about the same time , the satellite town of Elizabeth was being established ( to the east ) . Support for WRE testing activities had greatly reduced by the late 1960s . Edinburgh ' s major role changed in 1977 when No . 10 Reconnaissance Squadron was relocated to South Australia from RAAF Base Townsville , which had been the centre of Australia ' s maritime reconnaissance operations since the Second World War . RAAF Base Edinburgh has since been home to the RAAF ' s Maritime Patrol Group , as well as No 1 Recruit Training Unit , the Institute of Aviation Medicine ( AVMED ) and the Aircraft Research and Development Unit ( ARDU ) . Originally , RAAF Edinburgh and the DSTO were located in Salisbury , ( subsequently the suburb of Salisbury - Postcode 5108 ) , in the City of Salisbury . In 1997 , the Department of Defence decided to rationalise the then " DSTO Salisbury " site and sell off about 70 % of the site , and surrounding " Defence - owned " Crown land , to form the " Edinburgh Parks " industrial estate . The suburb of Salisbury was split in two , with the part containing the RAAF Base and DSTO renamed " Edinburgh " ( after the RAAF Base ) . The new suburb was assigned the Postcode 5111 . RAAF Units . The main aircraft type operating from Edinburgh is the AP - 3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft . However , the base has recently ( 2006 – 2011 ) undergone a massive upgrade to accommodate 7RAR and supporting army units . Aircraft Research and Development Unit ( ARDU ) . The Aircraft Research and Development Unit , first established in 1944 , is now a squadron of AOSG ' s Development and Test Wing ( DTWG ) . Based at RAAF Edinburgh , ARDU provides specialist Australian Defence Force aerospace testing and evaluation of new weapons and aircraft into the RAAF and ADF arsenal . Woomera Test Range ( WTR ) . The WTR is the Western world ' s largest defence systems test range and is an Australian icon . The range covers ( roughly the size of England or the US State of Florida ) . It is controlled by HQWTR located at RAAF Edinburgh , but is supported directly from Woomera Village . The range is approximately north - west of Adelaide .