Almost 1 in 4 troops ‘still being monitored’ months after falling ill during Ajax exercise | UK | News
“We will ensure they receive the necessary support,” he said in a written statement. The minister said 25 people who reported symptoms after the war games on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire returned to duty, “two of whom were found to be suffering from symptoms unrelated to Ajax”. Another soldier who fell ill during safety trials of the £10 million platform in December also returned to duty without any problems, according to Mr Pollard.
The minister said it was “completely unacceptable” that soldiers were “exposed to avoidable risk”.
Following the events, all Ajax’s tests and training were stopped.
Some soldiers reportedly vomited after participating in exercises in an armored fighting vehicle in November.
On Thursday Mr Pollard said a ministerial review found he had been given “inaccurate information”, which directly contributed to his decision to declare Ajax safe and ready for operations just weeks before the exercise on Salisbury Plain.
The minister said he was initially told the vehicle had “proven to be safe”.
Mr Pollard said the senior responsible owner of the beleaguered £6.3bn Ajax program had been replaced.
In a written statement he said: “To say I am angry at the findings of the ministerial review would be an understatement. It shows that people have raised issues with this scheme but they have not been escalated to an appropriate level.”
It confirmed that it had paused the initial operational capability statement (a term meaning a platform is ready for operations) for Ajax.
But he also said testing and trials would restart to “make sure we are in the best position to decide the future of Ajax”.
The Minister said that the Ministry of Defense should decide on the future of the vehicle “in a short time”.
Speaking to the Express, Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois MP called on ministers to fix or cancel the programme.
He said: “As the safety of our soldiers remains paramount, ministers must now either fix Ajax once and for all or fail it completely.”
Ajax is years behind schedule and has been plagued by issues, particularly noise and vibration issues.
While some of the injured soldiers were discharged, some were treated for hearing loss.
Approximately 170 of the vehicles have been delivered and the fleet is planned to increase to 589 by 2030.
