Army fixing 6,000 support trucks grounded over safety issues
Work is underway to repair 6,000 Army support vehicles withdrawn from service due to safety concerns, a defense minister told MPs.
The British Army’s entire support truck fleet has been suspended for repairs, Luke Pollard said. According to the news of The Times for the first timeIt was an example of “the system working properly”.
“A problem has been identified, instructions have been given to rectify it and that is being done,” he told the House of Commons defense committee.
He reassured MPs that “we maintain a level of readiness of our forces” after Labour’s Derek Twigg raised concerns about what would happen if a fleet of lorries were needed in an emergency.
Known as the “workhorse” of the British Army, the MAN Logistics Support Vehicle is used to deliver food, fuel and other supplies to the troops.
The squadron was withdrawn from service following a recent exercise called Titan Storm on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, when faults were discovered in some of the vehicles’ propeller shafts supplying power to the wheels.
Spare parts, some of which were damaged due to faulty assembly, are installed in all 6,000 vehicles, some of which have been in service for approximately 20 years. According to BFBS Forces News.
“Issuing security alerts and carrying out remediation work on our military platforms is pretty standard fare,” Pollard told MPs.
He added: “Due to the platforms we have, the age and usage of some of them, regular updates are required.”
Pollard was also questioned by MPs about a separate incident during exercise Titan Storm that led to the suspension of the Army’s Ajax armored fighting vehicles.
Approximately 30 soldiers training to use Ajax vehicles became ill due to noise and vibration, and some were seen vomiting from the vehicle.
Pollard told the committee that “none required hospitalization” and “many have returned to normal duties.”
But he added: “I have always been clear that the safety of our people is our top priority, which is why we have paused operations.”
This comes weeks after Pollard claimed the much-delayed £6.3bn Ajax program was “putting its problems behind” and ready to be deployed with squadrons in operations.
Pollard said he made the statement after receiving written confirmation from the chief of staff and the national armaments director that Ajax was “clearly safe for operation.”
He said the military had launched an investigation into what happened to the Ajax vehicles during exercise Titan Storm and that this would be reported “very shortly.”
Pollard told MPs the Defense Accident Investigation Branch had also launched an investigation that would take longer to report.
He also said he had launched a separate review into the assurances given to him by authorities about the safety of the vehicles.
Asked whether he had been misled about operational preparedness, he said: “Until we see the findings of the preliminary report on what happened, I don’t want to make any judgments about the process that led to this.”
