radiofree.asia

British military halts vehicle rollout after its soldiers fall ill

If it came with a label, it would read: late, expensive and harmful to the very people it’s meant to protect. This describes the £5.5 billion Ajax British armoured fighting vehicle deal plagued by malfunctions and ongoing delays, the last of which was announced on Wednesday.

After 15 years, since the contract was awarded, and now three delays, the army appears to be no closer to a roll out.

Everything’s fine, until it wasn’t

Earlier in November, Defence Minister Luke Pollard insisted the technical problems with Ajax had been resolved.

We would not be putting it [Ajax] in the hands of our frontline forces if it were not safe.

But, it wasn’t safe. The roll-out of the vehicle was halted again earlier this week. The problem? Soldiers reported feeling unwell.

An unidentified vibration or rattle that Ministry of Defence (MOD) boffins cannot get to the bottom of is causing disorientation and severe hearing damage among soldiers that have trialed the vehicle.

That’s despite them now wearing TWO different kinds of ear protection — “foam earplugs and over-ear headphones” — when operating the vehicles.

Here’s Pollard telling the press everything is fine a few weeks ago:

Years of delays and issues

Back in 2021, reports circulated that 310 soldiers impacted during the testing phase would be assessed for potential hearing loss. That’s before anything’s been rolled out.

Earlier this month, three other soldiers were also medically discharged from the military. This was due to these injuries and related health concerns.

Rolling forward — but at what cost?

A November report from BBC reported that a further 30 soldiers had gone ‘man down’ with hearing issues, nausea, and disorientation. An MOD spokesperson said:

Out of an abundance of caution, the minister for defence readiness and industry has asked the Army to pause all use of Ajax for training and exercising for two weeks, while a safety investigation is carried out into the events this weekend.

A 2023 review of the program revealed “a number of errors of judgment” and “systemic, cultural and institutional problems”.

General Dynamics, has so far delivered 165 faulty Ajax vehicles, including reconnaissance, recovery, and command variants, which are central to the UK’s future armoured forces. Yet, once again, a costly military project falters — while the only guaranteed winners are the global arms companies cashing in.

165 Ajax have been delivered so far. The MOD expects the total order of 589 to be delivered by 2030.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

This post was originally published on Canary.