The Ministry of Defence has announced it will restart acceptance of Ajax armoured vehicles from General Dynamics following the completion of an Army Safety Investigation Team inquiry into symptoms reported by soldiers during Exercise Titan Storm in November 2025, with the investigation finding no single cause but rather a combination of technical, environmental and human factors.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard told the House of Commons today that the Army Safety Investigation Team had concluded that “noise and vibration levels were found to be below legal exposure limits” and that symptoms were instead “likely the result of a combination of factors, including technical issues related to platform conditions at the time of the exercise, such as incorrect track tension and loose or missing engine deck bolts, alongside environmental and human factors, including variability in training and experience, cold exposure, and air quality within the Ajax vehicle itself.”
Pollard confirmed that all personnel have now returned to normal duties and that he had “agreed to restart the acceptance of vehicles from General Dynamics”, while acknowledging that “the experience for our soldiers using Ajax has not been good enough and that is not acceptable.” He added that he had “implemented strict new controls on the reintroduction of the Ajax vehicles that is focused on providing a significantly improved user experience.”
The 23 vehicles used on Exercise Titan Storm will be treated separately, with Pollard stating they “will not be put back in the hands of soldiers until we have confirmed that it is appropriate to do so.”
Pollard set out a phased approach to restarting the programme. The first phase will involve “the restarting of trials using the current version of Ajax” with “a limited number of vehicles used and under very controlled circumstances and maintenance regimes.” The second phase will see “the delivery of a number of improvements relating to the use of air filtration, crew compartment heating, and the electrical power generation system, key themes identified and prioritised following Exercise Titan Storm.”
Taking lessons from the aviation industry, Pollard said the government would “instigate an approach which will instil a common thread between design, maintenance and operation” with named individuals within the Army chain of command holding separate responsibilities for operating and maintaining the vehicle, saying this was “to ensure there cannot be instances where desire to operate a vehicle within the chain of command compromises the necessity for the highest standards of safety.” He confirmed that any return to training would follow “a crawl-walk-run staged progression ensuring safety is paramount throughout.”
Pollard said the government had been “engaging extensively and directly with our soldiers throughout this process” and that their experiences were “shaping much of what we do next.” He said the aim was to “proceed safely, responsibly, and transparently to deliver an improved Ajax vehicle for our soldiers” while acknowledging that “we know we have more to do to rebuild confidence in the vehicle, and we do not underestimate the work still ahead.”
The Independent Expert Panel Review remains ongoing with a final report due soon, focusing on less well understood human and environmental factors relevant across defence more broadly. A further independent review examining the quality of advice provided to ministers, senior officials and military leadership has had its terms of reference agreed with a lead reviewer identified and due to be appointed shortly.
Pollard confirmed that “the above commitments will be met within the existing programme scope and financial envelope” and closed by reaffirming that “the safety of our people is non-negotiable. That is the standard our Armed Forces deserve, and it is the standard this Government will uphold.”
Ajax has had a troubled development spanning more than a decade, with the programme beset by delays, cost increases and persistent issues with noise and vibration that led to soldiers reporting symptoms including nausea, headaches and joint pain during earlier trials, resulting in a pause to crew training that lasted several years before a cautious restart was authorised.
Hopefully the hulls stop filling water and random bits stop falling off it. That being said this programme was never going to cancelled this late and with so much money already being spent on it.
If there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the vehicles, why can’t they be returned to service ?
Air quality ? I hope the crews weren’t being poisoned by Carbon Monoxide.
There was some reporting over the weekend that highlighted that as one of the issues, with filter problems being suggested as the cause.
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Seems there is a need to move to Ajax 2 as rapidly as possible with the automatic tightening and composite rubber tracks. Frankly it seems amazing to me that general dynamics built a modern armoured vehicle without automatic tightening and composite rubber tracks.
Neither fix sounds particularly difficult to implement in comparison with redesigning the suspension. Hopefully such a fix can be retrofitted onto the existing vehicles.
So……
It’s still broke, it’s full of faults, we haven’t a clue, but we must go on, we’ve spent too much to walk away.
From what we know of the investigation release, it was a combination of several factors, part operational and part mechanical. However I think everyone can agree that getting it back all be it with a slow reintroduction is the best outcome.
Even if budgets were infinite it would still take half a decade to start delivery of even an off the shelf alternative.
It does also seem with Ajax 2 on the horizon that a fully improved version can be delivered at a relatively affordable cost and it’s quite probable that an Ajax 2 would be the most capable vehicle of this type anywhere in the world.
Nothing to see here – move on! They are determined to get this flawed vehicle into service come wat may. To big to fail, too many reputations at stake. The whole thing sucks and our troops will suffer for it.
I’ll buck the trend.
Very pleased to see this, hope issues can be ironed out and entry into service resumed.
The Armoured Cavalry need something, having given up their CVRT years ago.