Singapore soldiers gear up for high-tech Exercise Wallaby

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Singapore soldiers gear up for high-tech Exercise Wallaby

After an intense training session held at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area. The RSAF ground crew at Rockhampton Airport performs routine checks on the AH-64Ds. The training session was part of Exercise Wallaby 2012, which is held in Shoalwater Bay from Sept 22 to Nov 24, 2012. -- Photo: CHEW SENG KIM

ROCKHAMPTON (Queensland) - Singapore's soldiers and airmen are gearing up for one of the biggest and most complex unilateral war games in Queensland, Australia, scheduled to end on Nov 24.

The 65-day Exercise Wallaby will involve more than 4,300 air and ground troops, as well as some 350 war machines, including the Leopard 2SG main battle tanks and Apache attack helicopters.

Making its debut in the exercise is the army's latest armoured infantry carrier, Terrex. Some 50 Terrex "battlefield taxis" and 700 foot soldiers from the 5th Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment are being put through their paces in their first major overseas exercise since the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) declared its motorised infantry capabilities battle-ready last year.

Colonel Seet Uei Lim, who is overseeing the first of three phases of the war games, said Queensland's rugged and unfamiliar terrain will push the troops and Terrex to the limits.

The Bulletin, a local Rockhampton newspaper, also reported about the Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong who would be visiting Rockhampton to observe the Singapore Armed Forces taking part in Exercise Wallaby which is held at Shoalwater Bay.