The chair of the Defence Committee said the Army’s troubled armoured vehicle programmes now amount to “an absolute shambles”, as MPs pressed ministers over fresh injuries sustained during Ajax trials and wider concerns about land readiness.
Speaking in the Commons, Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP criticised the state of key Army platforms after more than 30 soldiers reported sickness and hearing issues during an exercise on 22 November involving the Ajax reconnaissance vehicle. He argued that the renewed problems raise questions about whether the programme is viable at all.
He highlighted multiple pressures across the Army’s fleet, pointing to delays in the Boxer mechanised infantry vehicle and issues with the MAN support vehicle fleet. He asked whether “a wider systemic problem with land vehicle procurement and sustainment” now exists and what that means for Army readiness at a time of heightened international tension.
Defence minister Luke Pollard said he shared MPs’ concern, stressing that he would not speculate until three separate investigations report on the cause of the noise and vibration injuries. “It is not good enough for our service personnel to sustain injuries in this fashion on a platform that they were reassured was safe. Getting to the bottom of this issue is a priority for me,” he said.
Pollard told MPs he had ordered external expertise to be brought in, stating that the Ministry of Defence is assembling “a team of experts from a number of organisations outside the usual GD production line to add expertise and external challenge”. He confirmed that General Dynamics had apologised for a staff member who publicly mocked injured soldiers.
Addressing the broader concerns raised by the committee, the minister said the MAN SV issue was being handled through standard processes for an ageing fleet, with rectification work under way and full capability expected early in the new year. He nevertheless acknowledged shortcomings in how land equipment has been procured and sustained. “The defence procurement system we inherited is in need of quite significant reform. We have started that process already, but there is more work to be done,” he said.
Pollard added that moving the entire force to a warfighting footing will require resolving “significant issues with a number of platforms”. The department expects to provide a further update in a written ministerial statement before the Christmas recess.
No fears… The Germans will defend us…. If not what about using horses??
Brilliant idea! Why could our politicians think of that? Oh wait!
Brilliant idea! Why could our politicians not think of that? Oh wait!
It’s across the board, a total lack of planning to fight a long peer war.. even as everyone says we will be fighting one… army formations and vehicles, navy mass, airforce mass..even the basics of civil defe
Rusi’s Hamish Mundell said it best…”Medical capacity is limited. Reserve regeneration pipelines are slow… The British plan for mass casualty outcomes appears to be based on not taking casualties.” With classic British understatement, he says: “This could be considered an optimistic planning assumption.” From the BBC ( who are really turn on the war talk).
Still complete lack of detail on how we ended up with the mess and who’s heads have rolled because of it.
If there is massive corruption, I would also like to see people in prison.
Just vague statements about fixing things isn’t useful. We need details of what went wrong and why.
How many times over the last few decades have we heard PM say they are fixing things but yet the issues just continue. Just nonsense that a public enquiry hasn’t been held.