Ajax safety fears: We'll end this saga one way or another, Pollard tells MPs
Once investigations into the safety of the Ajax armoured vehicle are complete, the Government will make "whatever decisions are required to end this saga one way or another", Luke Pollard has insisted.
Three probes are underway into the beleaguered vehicle, one by the Defence Accident Investigation Branch and one by the Army Safety Investigation Team as well as a ministerial review.
The Army suspended the use of Ajax last month after 31 soldiers became unwell due to noise and vibration issues while operating the AFV during Exercise Titan Storm on Salisbury Plain, having spent up to 15 hours in the vehicles.
Injuries continue to mount
Defence Readiness and Industry Minister Mr Pollard said he was disgusted to hear of the soldiers' injuries – after he himself had declared the vehicle safe.
The Ajax family of vehicles, which was originally intended to enter service in 2017, had suffered long delays because of noise and vibration injuries to some of the soldiers who had been testing the vehicles.
But early last month Ajax – which comprises six vehicle types based on the same chassis – was given Initial Operating Capability (IOC) status, which meant it could be deployed as a squadron on operations.
Written assurances
At the time, Mr Pollard said the Ajax programme had "left its troubles behind" and was "demonstrably safe".
But after more soldiers kept becoming ill, he said his declaration of the vehicle's safety had been based on assurances he'd been given from senior officials.
Mr Pollard said he'd received written assurances from the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Roly Walker, and the then-national armaments director, Andy Start, that Ajax was safe before he declared it had reached IOC.
Support from Cartlidge
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said he had also been told Ajax was safe when he was defence procurement minister, and said he was "furious" that he seemed to have been given false assurances.
He said: "Can I begin by stating how shocking it was to hear of the Army exercise which took place on November 22 that resulted in over 30 casualties among soldiers operating Ajax, with reporting symptoms ranging from sickness to hearing loss.
"This is particularly disturbing for me, as these renewed incidents with noise and vibration sound strikingly similar to the problems that I was assured, as minister for defence procurement, had been resolved.
"The minister [Mr Pollard] confirmed in the Defence Committee that he had received similar assurances when he agreed to announce Ajax had reached the key milestone of Initial Operating Capability on November 6.
"The minister and I may have our political differences but, on this, can I suggest we have something in common? We have both been misled about the viability of the Ajax programme."
Facts, not speculation
Mr Pollard said he would not comment on the results of the ongoing investigations, which he said would involve an external organisation with experience of noise and vibration.
He said: "While investigations remain ongoing, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the potential outcomes or speculate on the causes of these symptoms."
However, he said Government officials had been having daily meetings with General Dynamics, the company responsible for manufacturing Ajax, since the day of the training exercise when the injuries were sustained.
Mr Pollard suggested the way defence procurement is carried out might have to change.
He said it was "too expensive and it doesn't allow for spiral development in the way it needs to".
"The procurement of Ajax was a novel form where the platform was procured and brought into service, and iterations then retrofitted onto each platform," he explained.
"That is an area that I'm looking at to see whether that model, that type of procurement, is right for the platforms that we're looking to buy."
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