9. DIANNE YATES (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Defence
What was the purpose of Exercise Silver Warrior and what were the results of the exercise?
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) Link to this
The purpose of the exercise was to test the effectiveness of the Army’s motorised battalion, now that modern, state-of-the-art equipment has replaced vehicles that were 20 to 40 years old. The initial feedback from the New Zealand Army is that it believes that the exercise demonstrated that the battalion now meets the required level of capability, and it was pleased with the results.
What feedback was received about the performance of the new Pinzgauer light operational vehicles in the exercise and in actual operational use?
Very positive feedback has been received. There were, as the House will be aware, some initial teething problems following delivery of the light operational vehicles. In particular, there was a problem with the transmission overheating, but that problem has been dealt with at the expense of the manufacturer, and the vehicles have performed well. The Pinzgauers have recently been deployed in Afghanistan, and work under what are probably the harshest conditions anywhere in the world. When soldiers who had used the Pinzgauers came back, I spoke to them, and they were hugely positive about what the vehicles had been able to do. They believed that those vehicles had some really important advantages over alternative options such as, for example, Humvees.
Why was it necessary to purchase the light armoured vehicles that Exercise Silver Warrior was based on?
The M113 armoured personnel carriers that the LAVIIIs replaced were purchased way back in the 1960s and were over 35 years old. The truth is that our participation in peacekeeping in Bosnia in the mid-1990s highlighted that the Army lacked the means to be able to move and manoeuvre its forces with the necessary degree of protection and speed to ensure the effectiveness and survivability of the force. We were unable to operate in peacekeeping or any other operations in anything other than a low-risk environment, and it is an absolute disgrace that the National Party deployed our forces with such antiquated equipment.