British army’s troubled new armoured vehicle may not be fixable, minister warns

A UK defence minister has admitted for the first time that the government is “not 100 per cent certain” that the problems facing its Ajax armoured vehicle programme are resolvable, raising the prospect that more than £3bn already spent on the new fleet might be wasted.

Jeremy Quin, procurement minister, described Ajax as a “troubled programme” in evidence to MPs on Tuesday, and acknowledged that the vehicle has “a serious problem related to noise and vibration”.

The Ministry of Defence ordered 589 high-tech Ajax reconnaissance vehicles from US contractor General Dynamics seven years ago in a deal worth £5.5bn. The vehicles were meant to be ready for delivery from 2017 but so far only 26 have been handed over, and troops testing them have reported hearing and vibration injuries.

Trials of Ajax were suspended last November due to health concerns and restarted earlier this year with new measures to help personnel including ear defenders. However, the MoD stopped trials for a second time last month over what it called “renewed concerns on the effects of noise”.

Having been summoned to the Commons defence select committee to discuss the vehicle’s defects, Quin said: “I’ve described Ajax as a troubled programme. I wish it wasn’t but it is.”

He warned: “It requires a lot of work from ourselves and our industry partners to get ourselves back on track. We can’t be 100 per cent certain that can be achieved.”

The minister added that the preliminary findings of a health and safety review into Ajax, due to report by the end of this month, has already raised some issues of concern. He said the department was currently looking for a new person to head the programme and either see it through to delivery or inform ministers that correcting the problems would not be achievable.

Lieutenant General Ralph Wooddisse, commander of the field army, said he was making contingency plans — such as using unmanned drones for reconnaissance — in case Ajax is still not in service by the middle of this decade.

Earlier in the hearing Carew Wilks, vice-president of General Dynamics Land Systems, emphasised he was “confident” that the noise and vibrations can be fixed. However, it was still not clear whether the taxpayer would have to pick up the bill to make the vehicles safe.

The MoD appeared to be bearing the cost of the extra testing, and was also due to pick up the liabilities for any potential insurance claims from individuals injured during the course of the trials.

Major General Tim Hodgetts, surgeon-general of Britain’s armed forces, told MPs that eight out of 307 personnel involved in testing had reported temporary vibration injuries including “back and joint pains”, and tingling in the hands and feet. A total of 23 troops have been assessed as needing steroid treatment for hearing problems.