The drill sledge was first tested by Captain Shenzu's unit in China, which later trained Mazer Rackham and three other NZSAS soldiers to use the device. Mazer Rackham later quickly taught Wit O'Toole and Calinga to drive the drill sledges, so they could drill underneath the Formic landers. They were able to successfully destroy one of the three Formic landers using the drill sledges, but when the Chinese tried repeating the tactic they failed because the Formics had shielded the underside of the remaining two landers.