Page 36 - Australian Defence Magazine July 2019

Army prepares for
NASAMS capability
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
Army’s 16 Air Land Regiment is now simply 16 Regiment Royal Australian Artillery, just one of a number of changes being implemented as the unit upgrades its current equipment and prepares for that to be replaced in the early 2020s by a National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS).
THE Regiment was retitled on 2 June this year for the second time in less than nine years as part of its 50th anniversary celebra- tions; a practical move to negate further name changes as the specialist unit evolves for the future.
Formerly the 16th Air Defence Regiment, the unit assumed the 16th Air Land title in January 2012 following the amalgamation of the independent 1st Ground Liaison Group into the Regiment’s 1st Air Ground Operations (AGO) Battery, joining the ex- tant 110 and 111 Air Defence Batteries.
“Because as air defenders we must con- stantly liaise with Air Force to be able to fight our mission system, we also took on responsibility for command and control of joint air/land integration,” 16 Regiment’s Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Mankowski said to ADM – inciden-
tally the initial commander of the AGO Battery and its constituent Ground Officer Liaison and Joint Terminal Attack Con- troller (JTAC) troop.
“At that time air-land integration was emerging as a key lesson for Afghanistan. Army needed subject matter experts who could talk with authority on air-land mat- ters and more importantly to integrate from JTAC all the way up to the air operations centre in terms of arguing for air support and integrating our schemes of manoeu- vre,” he commented.
The Regiment’s fixed-launcher Rapier short range air defence system (SHORAD) was replaced by the Saab Bofors short range RBS-70 MANPADS (man-portable air de- fence system) in 111 Battery in 1987. Eigh- teen years later 110 Battery also received the RBS-70 system, including the longer-range
36 | July 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au