Ajax 'do not use' order and safety reviews expected to remain in place until early next year

An Army-wide order banning all activity on Ajax – the embattled £5.5bn new medium armoured fighting vehicle – is expected to remain in place until the start of next year, defence sources have said.

Defence Minister Luke Pollard ordered a pause on personnel using Ajax following an incident on Salisbury Plain, which resulted in 31 soldiers falling ill while taking part in an exercise involving the vehicle.

In the wake of that incident, an urgent safety review was ordered, which was initially due to report within two weeks. It is now understood that the outcome of this review will be released alongside the findings of two other reviews currently taking place into the Army's Ajax programme.

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An expensive setback 

On Monday, 15 December, the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, told reporters his primary concern was with the soldiers "who are injured", emphasising: "We will make sure they are looked after."

BFBS Forces News can reveal that the 31 soldiers injured in the Salisbury Plain incident are all still medically downgraded. The downgrade was put in place as a 28-day temporary measure, with the troops set to be re-assessed at the end of that period.

A source said: "Nothing has changed in terms of their medical status. They have effectively been given a sick note excusing them from duties, which will be reviewed at the end of the period."

There are currently three reviews into the Ajax programme, all now expected to report in early January. These include:

• A review into the specific vehicles involved in the Salisbury Plain incident, which saw 31 soldiers fall ill
• A wider review into the safety of Ajax, examining all vehicles across the programme
• A review into the passage of communications between Ajax programme officials, senior Army leadership, and government ministers, after Mr Pollard was initially given written assurances that Ajax was safe

He later confirmed that those assurances came from figures including the head of the British Army, General Sir Roly Walker.

The future for the Ajax programme 

Last month, BFBS Forces News reported that three members of the Household Cavalry Regiment were already facing medical discharge from the Army following injuries sustained since the unit began using Ajax.

That reporting prompted Mr Pollard to question the information he had previously been given about the vehicle's safety.

Within days, the incident on Salisbury Plain took place, forcing the minister to take immediate action by halting all use of the platform across the Army.

There has also been a notable change in tone from the government over the future of Ajax.

Just six weeks ago, the platform was awarded Initial Operating Capability (IOC) status, with Mr Pollard telling reporters at an event marking the milestone that the vehicle was safe, and that previous problems with noise and vibration had been fixed.

At the time, he said the government would not award IOC status to "any platform we did not think was safe for the men and women of our Armed Forces to use".

However, the government's current messaging has shifted, with Defence Secretary John Healey now refusing to rule out cancelling the programme altogether. He told reporters: "I'm prepared to take whatever decisions are required."