Australian Defence confirms an earlier Supacat tip-over after a fatal rollover in the Northern Territory

Australia's Defence organisation has confirmed that the six-wheel Supacat High Mobility Transporter, the vehicle type that rolled and killed an Australian soldier in the Northern Territory this month, had tipped onto its side during an earlier training incident that was never made public. The ABC reported the admission on 22 October after it obtained a photograph of the earlier event, and the specialist site The Defense Post has since reported the same confirmation.

Corporal Brendan Hannam of the Royal Australian Regiment died and five other soldiers were hurt on 5 October when their open-top Supacat rolled at the Mount Bundey training area, about 115 kilometres south-east of Darwin. Defence has said the corporal was not the driver. The five injured soldiers have since been discharged from hospital, and his funeral was held on 19 October.

After the crash, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Susan Coyle, said Supacat operations had been paused and that it would be premature to comment on how the accident happened. She also said there had not been any other incidents involving those vehicles. The Defense Post reported that the fleet was grounded after the death.

A Defence spokesperson later said the image held by the ABC most likely showed a 2020 accident on a driver training course that caused no injuries and no damage to the vehicle. Defence does not count that event as a rollover. In its terms the vehicle laid over, meaning it went onto its side without rotating significantly onto its roof. Asked whether the army chief knew of the 2020 event and what investigation followed it, the spokesperson said comment would be inappropriate while the Mount Bundey investigation continues.

The ABC also looked at the record of the British Jackal, a four-wheel vehicle built on the same Supacat platform as Australia's six-wheel Extenda models. A British inquest heard that Jackals had been involved in more than 30 rollovers, some of which caused head and neck injuries, and a Jackal roll during training in 2019 killed the driver, a British staff sergeant. A UK military inquiry released in 2021 judged the roll protection inadequate, made more than 50 recommendations and called for roll safety upgrades across all high mobility Supacat variants, along with changes to training.

Defence declined to say whether Australia changed its Supacat fleet or its training after the British findings, and officials would not describe possible modifications to Australia's 89 Extenda vehicles while the investigation runs. Australia bought those vehicles in the mid-2010s for about 130 million Australian dollars, and they have mostly served with special forces, commando and Special Air Service units. Supacat told the ABC it could not comment while the Defence investigation is under way.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has asked the Chief of the Defence Force, Admiral Mark Hammond, to examine issues including risk settings, fatigue management and training across the army and the wider force. According to the ABC, Corporal Hannam is the fourth Australian soldier to die in a military vehicle rollover in five years. A lance corporal was killed when an armoured personnel carrier rolled west of Townsville in October 2025, and two soldiers died when their heavy recovery vehicle rolled near Townsville in August 2021.

The army chief's early statement that there had been no other incidents was made before Defence confirmed the 2020 event, which it describes as a lay-over rather than a rollover. The Mount Bundey investigation is still open, and Defence has given no date for its findings or for a decision on whether the Supacat fleet returns to training.