Ajax armoured vehicle trials will be 'proceeding cautiously', minister says

Trials of the Army's Ajax armoured vehicle will be "proceeding cautiously" after they were halted last year, a defence minister has said.

A decision was made to stop using the Ajax after soldiers became unwell from noise and vibration during a training exercise in November.

It came weeks after the minister, Luke Pollard, said the £6.3bn programme had "left its troubles behind" and declared the vehicle was ready to be deployed on operations.

In a written statement published on Thursday, Mr Pollard said an investigation found "a combination of factors" was likely to have caused the symptoms reported by soldiers - including techincal issues, variability in training and experience, cold exposure and air quality in the Ajax.

He said all personnel who reported issues during Exercise Titan Storm in Hampshire in November have returned to normal duties and the majority suffered "temporary symptoms".

"I have now agreed to restart the acceptance of vehicles from [the manufacturer] General Dynamics. However, I accept that the experience for our soldiers using Ajax has not been good enough and that is not acceptable," he said.

"I have implemented strict new controls on the reintroduction of the Ajax vehicles that is focused on providing a significantly improved user experience.

"We have been engaging extensively and directly with our soldiers throughout this process - their experiences matter and they are shaping much of what we do next.

"As a result, we are considering a phased approach to restarting the Ajax programme."

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The first phase will include the restarting of trials with a limited number of vehicles under "very controlled circumstances", he said.

The Ajax was originally intended to enter service in 2017, but it suffered long delays after the soldiers became unwell.

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