Britain’s £6.3 billion Ajax program is in fresh crisis: dozens of soldiers have fallen ill from noise and vibration inside the vehicles – just weeks after the Army declared them “safe” and ready for service, casting serious doubt on ambitious export plans
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) recently announced that the deployment of the Ajax was suspended for 2 weeks after about 30 soldiers fell ill due to noise and vibrations during training to operate the vehicle.
Upon testing, “around 30 personnel presented noise and vibration symptoms,” the MoD said. A “small number of personnel” are still receiving expert medical care, it added, but the “vast majority” have been cleared for duty.
An investigation has been launched “out of an abundance of caution”, the MoD stated. However, “a small amount of testing of the vehicle will continue to ensure that any issues can be identified and resolved.”
Noise- and vibration-related sickness was reported during a military exercise on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. Some soldiers emerged from Ajax shaking uncontrollably, while others were seen vomiting, The Times reported. The affected soldiers had purportedly spent about 10 to 15 hours inside the armoured vehicle.
However, this is not the first time that such incidents have been reported. In fact, the program has been dogged by delays due to persistent noise and vibration problems that have made several British Army troops sick over the years, with some reporting serious conditions such as hearing loss.
In 2020, for instance, testing of the vehicle was abruptly halted after participants complained of severe vibration and noise, which caused nausea and inflamed the crews’ joints.
An investigation into the matter published in 2021 revealed that the perils of hearing impairment were discovered in 2018, and even though senior officials knew that Ajax put troops in danger, they refused to do anything about it.
Additionally, the failure was described as “complex and systemic” in the health and safety study, which also stated that officials prioritised time and money over crew safety. This was followed by some modifications aimed at improving crew safety, including larger seat cushions and hearing aids.
In 2023, a damning review of the £6.3 billion plan revealed “several errors of judgement” in the Ajax project and “systemic, cultural and institutional problems” within the MoD.
At the time, Conservative former defence minister Mark Francois told MPs that the program had been an “absolute debacle,” stressing that the assessment showed “just how massively bureaucratic and broken the MoD’s procurement really is.”
The British Army declared ‘Initial Operational Capability’ for Ajax on November 6, 2025, paving the way for the service to field a squadron equipped with the new medium-weight vehicle, marking Ajax’s introduction into the service.
Expressing optimism about the IOC, British defence procurement minister Luke Pollard assured that the previous problems encountered while operating the vehicle had been fixed. “It has had problems in the past,” he told BBC Wales.
“It was right that trials were paused to look at those problems, but it was also right that the company got on top of them, working with the Army, working with the Ministry of Defence and General Dynamics to fix them.” “We now have an incredible, capable, next-generation capability that’s safe for the men and women of our forces to use, but importantly, is lethal against our adversaries if used on the battlefield. “So it’s a really key part of our next-generation British Army capabilities. But as a minister, I would not be putting it into service if I had any doubts about its safety, the minister stated.
However, as per reports in the British media, the IOC was declared even though British Army troops had suffered hearing and other injuries due to loud noise and vibrations inside the vehicle. In fact, the MoD purportedly justified proceeding with IOC, stating that no “systemic” problem had been found in the vehicle — a claim that may now be contested.
Interestingly, the British government expressed confidence that its NATO allies would be interested in buying the long-delayed Ajax armoured vehicle.
The UK has been actively pitching Ajax derivatives abroad, with Poland emerging as a prime target. London has offered Warsaw the Ajax chassis reconfigured as a heavy infantry fighting vehicle, mated with Poland’s locally developed ZSSW-30 unmanned turret. This potential multibillion-pound deal would fuse British hull technology with Polish firepower.
For the Ministry of Defence and General Dynamics UK, exports are no longer optional – they are essential. Without foreign orders, the Merthyr Tydfil production line will wind down after the British Army’s 589-vehicle requirement is met in 2029, putting thousands of highly skilled Welsh jobs at risk and undermining the government’s ambition to make Ajax a cornerstone of UK defence exports.
The Troubled & Delayed Ajax
The Ajax program is a collaboration between the British Army, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), and General Dynamics UK (GDUK).
Developed by GSLS-UK, Ajax is a family of six advanced medium-weight armoured fighting vehicles, with specific variants for reconnaissance, protected mobility, Command and Control, Recovery, Repair, and engineering roles.
It is equipped with a 40mm cased telescoped cannon, advanced sensors, digital systems, and all-weather surveillance capabilities.
Based on Spain’s and Austria’s ASCOD 2 armoured fighting vehicles, Ajax was chosen by the UK in 2010 as the winner of the Future Rapid Effect System contract. It is the first new tracked armoured battle vehicle in nearly 30 years, and is expected to replace the CVR(T) vehicles, which first entered service in 1971.
The program emphasises digital integration, all-weather surveillance, and enhanced lethality, positioning Ajax as a “transformational capability” for modern battlefields. However, it has been marred by severe delays, cost overruns, and technical issues, earning descriptions like “deplorable” from parliamentary committees.
Ajax is a family of 589 tracked, all-terrain armoured vehicles armed with a range of weapons and state-of-the-art sensors, delivering reconnaissance capabilities to identify enemy targets on the battlefield, and giving the British Army the fighting edge on the frontline. It will be at the heart of both the Armoured and Deep Recce Strike Brigades,” as noted by the UK MoD.
The British MoD describes the Ajax as the “world’s most advanced, medium-weight armoured fighting vehicle.”
As per the Mod and the British Army, the vehicles are incredibly lethal and manoeuvrable, featuring innovative digital software that enables spiral evolution over time. It boasts of a strong engine, cutting-edge suspension system, modular armour package, a fully digitised and networked system, complex array of sensors, and a 40mm CT40 cannon.
However, Ajax has been referred to as a “troubled program” due to the technical faults and recurring delays. As noted by Jonathan Beale for the BBC, the vehicle was contracted in 2014 and should have ideally been operational by now, but it is not.
Of the intended 589 Ajax vehicles, just 160 have been built so far, and deliveries are expected to be completed by 2029.
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