A senior UK government minister has revealed assurances were given by service chiefs and other officials that the Ajax armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) was safe to operate, prior to the latest enforced suspension of its use by the British Army due to vibration concerns.
The revelation came to light during a Defence Committee session on 2 December 2025, where members asked UK Minister for Defence Readiness Luke Pollard about ongoing troubles with the Ajax programme related to the recent suspension of operation.
“What an utter shambles that this multi-billion-pound programme has come to a grinding halt. Personally, are you ashamed at [sic] how things have turned out with regards to the Ajax vehicle?” asked Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, chair of the Defence Committee.
Declining to respond directly, Pollard said he had been given assurance from the “National Armaments Director and Chief of the General staff” that “the objectively gathered evidence shows Ajax is demonstrably safe to operate”.
Although Pollard did not mention either individual by name, the current Chief of the General Staff is General Roland Walker, who has been head of the British Army since June 2024. The reference to the National Armaments Director is less clear, with Rupert Pearce recently taking up to role in October, replacing Andy Start.
“Based on that evidence, I felt it was appropriate to move to the next stage, which was IOC,” Pollard said.
The UK MoD declared the long-awaited initial operating capability (IOC) of Ajax in early November. However, just two weeks later, dozens of personnel reported noise and vibration which required medical intervention, forcing the British Army to suspend the platform’s use.
The latest development is yet another embarrassment for the multi-billion-pound programme, which has previously reported similar issues. An earlier solution suggested personnel double up on noise defenders, to mitigate the environmental effects.
As a result of the latest problem with Ajax, two reports are being compiled that will look into the specific instance that led to the recent suspension from the British Army and Defence Accident and Investigations Branch.
A third report will be commissioned into reviewing the information that is given to ministers to ensure that it is, in effect, accurate.
“I want to get on top of that problem, was it a maintenance issue, what is the design, was it the platform itself?” Pollard queried.
The problems with the Ajax programme have come at the same time as 6,000 MAN trucks operating by the UK military have been temporarily withdrawn from service to allow a fleet-wide fault to be rectified.
Playing down the MAN development as a “usual process”, Pollard said that a safety notice was being “implemented” to bring the vehicles back into service.
“It’s a good job we don’t have to move thousands of personnel in a matter of days due to an emergency then, isn’t it?” queried Defence Committee member Derek Twigg.
Is weight the problem with Ajax?
The design of the Ajax is based on the in-service ASCOD platform, which is operated by Spain and Austria, developed by General Dynamics European Land Systems.
Weighing 26.3 tonnes, the Austro-Spanish ASCOD comes in at 50% the weight of the 38-tonne behemoth Ajax AFV, with the latter also being longer, wider, and having a higher profile.
A total of 589 Ajax and Ajax-variant platforms are due to be delivered into British Army service.
