Contingent Liability
for Ajax Lessons Learned Review
The Minister for Defence Procurement ()
I wish to provide a further update to Parliament on the Ajax
equipment project being delivered as part of the Armoured Cavalry
programme.
Ajax is designed to provide ground mounted reconnaissance,
allowing the Army to understand the battlefield in all weathers,
24 hours a day. Part of our £41 billion investment in Army
equipment and support over the next 10 years, this modernisation
is critical to address future threats.
Health and safety
On 15 December, I announced the publication of the report from
the MOD’s Director of Health, Safety and Environmental Protection
into the health and safety concerns raised by noise and vibration
on the Ajax vehicles.
The report made 20 recommendations. Implementation of the
recommendations is now under way. Some have already been
implemented in full, for example the Army has stood up its noise
and vibration working groups (Recommendation 2.2); future trials
of armoured vehicles will have real-time measurement of noise and
vibration (Recommendations 3 & 11); and we were already
taking action to ensure our SROs and project leads stay in post
longer (Recommendation 13.1). The remainder are being progressed.
We continue to consider the recommendation relating to the
overlap of demonstration and manufacture stages (Recommendation
9) to ensure it is implemented in a way that does not hinder our
efforts to create a more agile approach to defence acquisition,
consistent with the defence and security industrial strategy, and
which reflects the industrial processes in different sectors.
Update on personnel
Following the most recent assessment on 17 February 2022, of the
310 people identified as working with Ajax, 13 individuals have
had long-term restrictions on noise exposure recommended,
potentially requiring a limitation in their military duties. The
majority of these had pre-existing hearing issues prior to
working on Ajax; some did not. A further five individuals remain
under specialist outpatient care for hearing and other ENT
issues. In addition, it remains the case that four individuals
who worked on Ajax have been discharged on health grounds, in
some cases for reasons wholly unrelated to hearing loss.
It remains the case that no individuals have had long-term
restrictions or been discharged as a result of vibration.
However, assessments continue for both hand-transmitted and
whole-body vibration.
Lessons learned review
The health and safety report highlighted shortcomings that need
to be addressed. Although the report only addressed the health
and safety aspects of Ajax, it pointed to some cultural and
systemic issues that have the potential to go beyond health and
safety. That is why the Defence Secretary and I have commissioned
an independent follow-on lessons learned review and I am pleased
to announce that Clive Sheldon QC has agreed to lead the review.
I am sharing copies of the terms of reference with the Public
Accounts and Defence Select Committees and placing a copy in the
Library of the House.
Programmatic issues
Work continues to resolve the noise and vibration issues. Testing
is now under way to verify the effectiveness of modifications
proposed by General Dynamics to
mitigate the noise and vibration issues to a safe and acceptable
level. We will then need to analyse this data in order to
understand the practicalities of allowing trials and training to
resume.
It remains the case that we cannot yet set a date for the
introduction of Ajax into service with the Army. Once a solution
to the noise and vibration problems has been identified by GDUK
and agreed by the Department, we will need to agree
with General Dynamics a
realistic schedule to initial operating capability and full
operating capability.
In parallel with looking at noise on Ajax vehicles, the MOD has
commissioned independent testing of the performance of all
headsets used in the full range of in-service armoured fighting
vehicles to ensure the specific headsets issued to service
personnel offer the best balance between protection and
functionality. We are also testing other commercially available
headsets for use in our in-service fleet of vehicles. As a
precaution, in December 2021, we placed temporary restrictions on
the use of headsets across our in-service fleet of armoured
vehicles, restrictions we were able to relax later that month as
a result of the testing conducted. We continue to be able to
fully meet all ongoing, planned and likely operational
commitments.
Conclusion
The focus for the MOD and General
Dynamics remains on developing and delivering long-term
solutions for noise and vibration. We are working closely
with General Dynamics and it
is showing great commitment to resolving these issues. Until we
know what those solutions are, it is not possible to determine a
realistic timescale for the introduction of Ajax vehicles into
operational service with the Army. We want it to succeed and to
deliver what the British Army requires with the utmost urgency.
We have a robust firm price contract for the delivery of 589
vehicles at a cost of £5.5 billion. We will not accept a vehicle
that is not fit for purpose.
The terms of reference can be viewed online at:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2022-03-29/HCWS739/