The senior responsible officer for the troubled Ajax armoured vehicle programme has been removed from the role after a review found safety issues “were not elevated to an appropriate level”.
The defence minister, Luke Pollard, has also withdrawn the programme’s “initial operating capability”, which is needed for an Ajax squadron to be deployed on operations.
He added that use of Ajax in trials and testing will resume, having been on pause since late last year.
Pollard had ordered an immediate and indefinite pause of the use of Ajax for training in November after 35 service personnel reported noise and vibration symptoms during a training exercise. Then in December, he halted all trials and testing of the armoured vehicles after a soldier suffered vibration-related injuries. Pollard also launched a series of investigations.
In an update to the House of Commons on the programme on Thursday, Pollard said 25 of the 35 personnel involved in the November incident have returned to duty. Two were found to be suffering from symptoms unrelated to Ajax. The remaining eight continue to be monitored. The soldier who reported issues in December has returned to duty “with no issues”.
Pollard said a safety investigation from the Defence Accident Investigation Branch found that the incident response was "swift, reducing further risk to personnel…demonstrated good practice and was not considered a factor in the accident”.
However, he said it is “clear that soldiers still suffered symptoms resembling those of noise and vibration during the exercise and we need to find out why from our further investigations”. A separate army safety investigation has yet to report.
Pollard also commissioned a ministerial review to examine the quality of advice that ministers, senior officials and military leadership across the MoD received. He said this determined that departmental submissions were accurate in declaring Ajax as safe to operate, but that they also found ministers “should have been briefed more comprehensively in relation to operational impact and the nuanced risks of operating safely”.
“Importantly, submissions did not reflect the full breadth of known aggregated safety risk, particularly regarding vibration related injuries and historical programme issues,” Pollard noted.
“To say that I am angry about the findings of the ministerial review is an understatement”, he said. “It demonstrates that people were raising issues with this programme, but they were not being elevated to an appropriate level.
“Ministers rely on accurate, timely and complete information to make decisions in the national interest. When that information does not meet this standard, the consequences are not abstract. They can be real, human and serious.”
Pollard said inaccurate information had directly contributed to the decision to declare initial operating capability for Ajax on 6 November. “This is unacceptable, and today I have written formally to the wider department to explain how I expect people to be accurate, innovative and challenge unnecessary process and bureaucracy, whilst maintaining our peoples’ safety,” he said.
Pollard said he has asked the permanent secretary, Jeremy Pocklington, to follow up on the key themes of the ministerial review.
On accountability for the programme, Pollard said he would not comment on “individual HR matters”, but added that the SRO for the programme, Chris Bowbrick, is “no longer in that role”.
Pollard said the army has appointed an interim SRO, and he has “passed oversight of this programme to the national armaments director", Rupert Pearce, "who will update me regularly”.
On initial operating capability, Pollard said: “Until we can confirm resolution of the concerns following the recent Titan Storm training exercise, we cannot declare that it meets the minimum requirement for use under the initial operating capability model.".
Pollard also said the programme’s future is being considered as part of the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.
“We will continue to work hard with General Dynamics to identify problems and solutions to ensure we deliver world beating capability to our war fighters," he added. "To support this approach, we will restart the use of Ajax in trials and testing to ensure we are best placed to decide Ajax’s future.”
Pollard also gave an update on his plan to appoint a panel of experts with experience of noise and vibration “to add expertise and external challenge to our work”. Pollard said the appointed panel “consists of a range of expertise: academia, maritime, aviation, science and medical and will also inform on human factors”.
He said he will provide an update “in due course when I am in receipt of their findings”.
General Dynamics UK has been approached for comment.