Exercise Wallaby accident: All 12 injured SAF servicemen received medical care, rejoined unit

SINGAPORE / ROCKHAMPTON – The 12 Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen who

were taken to hospital in Queensland, Australia,

following an accident during Exercise Wallaby on Sept 24, have received medical care and rejoined their unit.

Training has resumed, with emphasis on the need to maintain safety distance, especially when driving in poor visibility, the Singapore Army said in a Facebook post on Sept 25.

The first leg of the exercise ends on Sept 26, and soldiers will be transiting in and out of the training area. A day after the incident, units on the ground continued training for the drill, which is set to be the SAF’s largest unilateral overseas exercise, involving about 6,200 troops.

Said Major Raymeo Kuah, battery commander for ground-based air defence at the 3rd Divisional Air Defence Artillery battalion: “There have been minimal disruptions to our training programme. At this point, we assess that we are still able to achieve the objectives that we set out to achieve for the exercise.”

Major Kuah, who was not involved in the accident, said: “We continue to take a strong look and ensuring that we operate ourselves, operate the system safely, drive safely.”

Speaking to reporters at a demonstration of a ground-based air defence system, planned as part of a media embed for the exercise, Major Kuah said the commanders called for a safety pause immediately after the incident to understand what had happened. 

They then disseminated information down to every soldier, so that they would be more aware of hazards and risks, he said. 

On Sept 24, the 12 SAF servicemen were taken to hospital after a Hunter armoured fighting vehicle rear-ended another at about 7.40pm local time (5.40pm Singapore time) while moving back to base at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland.

Unveiled in 2019, the Singapore-developed Hunter has a

crew of three

– the vehicle commander, gunner and driver – and can carry eight other soldiers.

This is the Hunter’s first time participating in Exercise Wallaby, where it has been deployed alongside other armoured vehicles such as the Leopard tank.

ST has asked Mindef about the factors contributing to the accident, and the extent of the damage. Exercise Wallaby, which has three legs, ends on Nov 3.