Overview
- The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry ordered a two-week halt to training and exercising with Ajax while the Ministry of Defence conducts a safety probe.
- The Army halted the weekend exercise immediately and tested all participants, identifying 31 personnel with noise and vibration symptoms.
- Officials say the vast majority of those affected have been medically cleared to continue duty, with a small number receiving further care.
- The incident involved Household Cavalry and Royal Lancers soldiers on the Iron Fist exercise, with some crews spending 10 to 15 hours inside the vehicle and reporting vomiting, violent shaking and balance issues, according to defence sources.
- The pause comes weeks after a minister publicly said Ajax was safe, despite the programme’s long-running noise and vibration problems and about 170 vehicles already delivered toward a planned 589 by 2030.