A 1st Armoured Regiment M1A1 Abrams tank patrols the Shoalwater Bay training area as part of a combined-arms battle group live-fire assault during Exercise Predator's Strike.Mid-caption: Units from the Darwin-based 1st Brigade conducted Exercise Predator’s Strike from 28 June to 10 July 2011 at Shoalwater Bay in central Queensland to prove the war-fighting skills of the battle group in the lead up to Exercise Talisman Sabre 2011.Predator’s Strike combined 1st Brigade units into a potent battle group that included 1st Armoured Regiment M1A1 Abrams tanks, 2nd Cavalry Regiment Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAVs), 5th and 7th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment mechanised infantry mounted in M113AS4 armoured fightingvehicles, forward observers from the 8th/12th Regiment and elements from 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, 1st Combat Signal Regiment and 1st Combat Service Support Battalion.1st Brigade has a distinguished history that includes five Victoria Cross winners, battle honours from Gallipoli and the Western Front, Vietnam, Iraq, East Timor and Afghanistan, and its soldiers are poised and ready to respond to a range of threats and regional events on behalf of the Australian Government.Based in Darwin at Robertson Barracks, 1st Brigade is the Australian Army's light armoured brigade. More than 3400 civilian and military personnel support 1st Brigade at Robertson Barracks. (The 7th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment– including support elements from other 1st Brigade units – is based at RAAF Edinburgh, outside Adelaide, South Australia.)Exercise Talisman Sabre (11–29 July 2011) is a major bilateral exercise designed to train Australian and United States forces in planning and conducting combined operations in order to improve Australian–US combat readiness and interoperability.Photograph by LSIS Andrew Dakin1st Joint Public Affairs Unit
