New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa
Media Release

Friday 11 June 2004

First Deployment For New Zealand’s Light Armoured Vehicle

18 NZLAV will deploy by sea to Darwin, Australia along with 42 other New Zealand military vehicles on Monday 14 June 2004 in preparation for Exercise Predators Gallop, a combined training exercise between New Zealand and Australia.

The Light Armoured Vehicles will be driven from Trentham Military Camp early Monday morning to Centre Port where loading will commence at 0700 hours.

The introduction of the NZLAV is a key component in the modernisation of NZDF capabilities and the exercise is a significant milestone for the New Zealand Army. It is the first deployment and the first collective training exercise to include the NZLAV.

Exercise Predators Gallop is an Australian Defence Force exercise conducted by 1 Brigade in the Mount Bundey Training Area (MBTA) and the Delamere training area, Northern Territory.

287 New Zealand Army personnel will deploy to Australia for this exercise by 5 July 2004, returning to New Zealand by 25 August 2004.

Media are invited to view the loading of the NZLAVs on Monday morning and to talk with an Army spokesperson about the NZLAV and the combined exercise with Australia.

ENDS

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