Welsh-built armoured vehicle may never be fit for combat – report

Nation.Cymru staff/agencies

A Welsh-built armoured vehicle at the centre of a £6.3 billion Army programme may never be fit for combat, MPs have warned.

The Ajax reconnaissance vehicle, manufactured by General Dynamics UK in Merthyr Tydfil, has been plagued by delays and safety concerns, with a cross-party committee questioning whether it can be safely operated on the battlefield.

A report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee said there were “unrealistic expectations” about how soldiers would use the vehicle in combat and raised fresh concerns over the impact of noise and vibration on crews.

The Ajax programme was originally expected to enter service in 2017 but has suffered repeated setbacks. Although the vehicle was cleared for operations in November last year, an exercise was halted within weeks after soldiers reported symptoms linked to noise and vibration.

The committee said it remained concerned about whether Ajax was “fit for purpose”.

“Armoured vehicles which injure soldiers when they are operated outside rigid parameters will be of little use on the modern battlefield,” the report stated.

MPs also questioned Ministry of Defence guidance that requires maintenance checks every time the vehicle is stopped.

Committee chairman Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “Our thoughts are with all those soldiers who reported symptoms from noise and vibration after operating these vehicles, and we were frankly astounded to hear officials explain that proper use of Ajax requires maintenance checks every time it is stopped.

“This is frankly an insult to intelligence, and much good may this advice do our fighting men and women if called upon to operate Ajax in combat. The MoD must now explain how it will make Ajax fit for purpose, and how much this will cost.”

The committee warned there was a risk that the Ministry of Defence could end up spending even more money on a package of “Ajax 2” improvements in an attempt to salvage the programme.

The MPs also demanded to know how much General Dynamics would contribute towards the costs arising from delays in delivering a vehicle deemed fit for service.

The report also criticised delays to the Government’s long-awaited defence investment plan, originally expected last year but now not due until shortly before the Nato summit in Turkey next month.

Sir Geoffrey said ministers could no longer rely on arguments that more time was needed to get the details right.

“Whatever the content of the defence investment plan when it eventually does appear, the damage from its absence has been done – to the nation’s credibility, to its safety, to its armed forces, and to certainty within its entire defence industrial base,” he said.

‘Warfighting-ready’

The committee said the Ministry of Defence had yet to determine which capabilities, infrastructure and personnel it needed to make the armed forces “warfighting-ready” within the available budget, and had not secured the necessary agreement across government.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the plan will be published before the Nato summit begins on July 7.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the Government was providing a “generational increase” in defence spending, including an additional £270 billion over the course of this Parliament.

“The defence investment plan will fix the outdated, overcommitted and underfunded programme we inherited,” the spokesperson said.

“We are working hard to finalise it. As the Defence Secretary told Parliament this week, the Prime Minister is determined to publish it before the Nato Summit.”