Ex Wallaroo 1998

SAF's Bionix goes into action

By LIM SIN THAI IN ROCKHAMPTON, AUSTRALIA

THE first locally designed and built infantry fighting vehicle, the Bionix, is being put through a gruelling test of its capabilities in a major exercise here.

Rolling across the rugged Australian terrain, troops from the 41 Singapore Armoured Regiment are getting their chance to fire on-the-move the tracked vehicles' array of armaments -- a 25 mm cannon, a 0.5 inch heavy machine gun and a 7.62 mm machine gun.

In the field with the troops is the Singapore Armed Forces' Chief Armour Officer, Brigadier-General Ong Boon Hwee. He said: "We brought the Bionix here so that we can push it to its limits."

Having personally operated one of the 12 vehicles shipped here for the exercise, BG Ong said that its excellent suspension system and stability helped in the accuracy of the crews' aim.

"It performed very well. The Bionix is truly in a class of its own. It is easy to operate and this allows the crew to focus on the mission objectives."

Together with the troops from 41 SAR are SAF personnel from the Guards battalions as well. In all, 4,200 SAF troops are here for Exercise Wallaroo, the fourth in the series since 1994. This year's exercise started on Oct 1 and ends on Nov 14.

Conducted in the vast expanse of the Shoalwater Bay Training area in the state of Queensland, the exercise allows the SAF to carry out a combination of armour battle group manoeuvres and heliborne training.

Together with the Bionix are a total of 90 tracked vehicles, including tanks and other armoured personnel carriers.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force is also taking part with eight Super Puma helicopters, which are based at the Australian Army Aviation Centre in Oakey, Queensland. It is the first operation for the RSAF detachment stationed at the new training facility in Australia. For 41 SAR, the highlight of the exercise was to put the Bionix through its paces under operational conditions.

The 5.9m-long vehicle with a top road speed of 70 kmh rolled off the production lines last September.