The six-wheel model of Supacat transporter that rolled and killed an Australian soldier at the Mount Bundey training area in the Northern Territory on October 5 had previously been involved in a tip-over incident during training, the ABC has confirmed. Defence initially said there had been no other incidents involving that kind of vehicle, but later acknowledged a 2020 accident that it classified as a “lay over” rather than a rollover because the vehicle had not undertaken “significant rotational movement onto its roof after one or more complete rotations.” No injuries or damage were reported in that incident.
Corporal Brendan Hannam, a highly experienced soldier with two tours of Afghanistan, died when the open-top Supacat High Mobility Transporter rolled. Five other soldiers were injured but have since been discharged from hospital. Defence has confirmed Corporal Hannam was not the driver. His funeral was held on October 19. He leaves a wife and two children.
Chief of Army Susan Coyle said after the Mount Bundey incident that Supacat operations had been paused and it would be “premature” to comment further. She stated there had “not been” any other incidents involving those vehicles, a statement Defence later qualified after the ABC obtained photographic evidence of the 2020 tip-over.
The ABC also confirmed that a four-wheel variant of the Supacat called the Jackal, used by British forces, has been involved in more than 30 rollover incidents. One of those, in 2019, killed Staff Sergeant John McKelvie during a training exercise in the UK. A British military inquiry in 2021 made more than 50 recommendations, including upgrading rollover protection for all high-mobility Supacats and modifying training operations. The inquiry raised concerns about inadequate rollover protection, the risk of objects intruding into the open cabin, and the absence of a means for crews to measure vehicle tilt. Defence has declined to comment on whether Australia applied any safety upgrades following the UK incidents.
Australia purchased 89 of the six-wheel Supacat Extenda vehicles in the mid-2010s at a cost of about $130 million. They have been used mainly by special forces. The Australian fleet also includes a four-wheel variant called the Nary, purchased in the 2000s.
Corporal Hannam is the fourth Australian soldier to die in a military vehicle rollover in the past five years. In October 2025, Lance Corporal Tulsa Rumney was killed when an armoured personnel carrier rolled near Townsville. In August 2021, Craftsman Brendon Payne and Warrant Officer Ryan Leslie died in a heavy recovery vehicle rollover in North Queensland.
After the Mount Bundey accident, Defence Minister Richard Marles said he had asked the Chief of Defence “to look at what might be the best vehicle to examine issues such as risk settings, management of fatigue, appropriate training across Army and the defence force.” Efforts to obtain comment from Supacat have been unsuccessful.