The government has halted all testing of the UK Army’s new armoured vehicle – known as the Ajax – after a soldier was injured in a recent trial.
The soldier reported vibration symptoms after riding the vehicle on 12 December, becoming the latest service personnel to report issues connected to the delayed and expensive programme.
Ajax vehicle use had already been paused in November for training and exercising pending investigations after around 30 service personal suffered noise and vibration symptoms following the Army’s Titan Storm exercise.
The vehicle involved in the most recent incident was part of reliability growth trials, which were allowed to continue, as they were meant to provide data for those safety investigations.
However, after yet another injury, those reliability trials which were assisting with safety investigations have been paused on safety grounds.
The suspension of those trials will not be reassessed until the New Year at the earliest.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard revealed in a written statement to parliament that he paused Ajax trials out of “an abundance of caution” and to ensure personnel safety.
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He added that the soldier did not require hospital treatment but was being given medical support.
Investigations continue into previous incident
Probes into the 26 November Ajax training exercise, where dozens of personnel suffered vibration and hearing problems, found that the affected soldiers were operating across 23 vehicles.
Mr Pollard said on Thursday all vehicles involved had now undergone a 45-point inspection.
Further inspections, specifically relating to the potential cause of the vehicle’s noise and vibrations, have now been carried out on 13 of the Ajax.
The remaining 10 will also undergo these tests before any findings are reported to ministers in the New Year.
An army investigation and a defence accident investigation branch probe are also under way into the incident.
The vehicle involved in the most recent vibration complaint will also be thoroughly inspected.
The minister confirmed that he had met with General Dynamics – the prime contractor constructing the armoured vehicles – last week.
The Ajax, which costs nearly £10m and weighs more than 40 tonnes, is being billed by the ministry as a “next generation” fighting machine.
Another setback
The new incident is another setback for the programme and the procurement minister, who had declared the vehicles as “demonstrably safe” in November.
Pollard had told reporters on a trip to the factory where the vehicles are being assembled that: “We would not be putting it in the hands of our armed forces, if it were not safe.”
Following a subsequent incident after those remarks, the minister told the House of Commons that: “I too was disgusted when I heard the news of the injuries to our service personnel, especially after a point when the vehicle was deemed safe.”
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While the Ajax is bound to generate noise and vibrations, the army has been criticised in the past for failing to alert ministers to concerns about the impact on troops of exposure to such sounds and jolts.
An internal review published in 2021 found that senior soldiers and Ministry of Defence officials had known for up to two years that earlier faults with the Ajax vehicle had been putting troops at risk of harm, but they failed to act.
The health and safety report revealed that issues such as potential hearing damage had first been raised in December 2018, but trials were not suspended until November 2020.
The army has ordered a total of 589 of the various models, which it expects to receive by 2030.
It marks the first new armoured fighting vehicle to enter service in almost 30 years and is replacing ageing gear that dates back to the 1970s.
The Ministry of Defence referred Sky News to the minister’s written statement.
General Dynamics has been contacted for comment.
