U.K. Army Grounds Ajax Armoured Vehicle After 31 Soldiers Fall Ill

The U.K. Army has grounded all Ajax armoured vehicles after 31 soldiers fell ill during Exercise Iron Fist on Salisbury Plain, marking what sources called a major safety setback for the £5.5 billion programme.

The decision came only days after the Ministry of Defence (MOD) repeated assurances that the vehicle was safe, despite earlier warnings that three Household Cavalry Regiment personnel were facing medical discharge after working on the platform.

As first reported by The Times, soldiers became sick after spending 10 to 15 hours inside the vehicles. The MOD confirmed several are still being treated. An urgent Electronic Safety Notice was issued on Monday, banning all use of Ajax for two weeks while an investigation is carried out.

Ajax has faced long-running safety problems since trials began, including noise and vibration issues that contributed to an eight-year delay.

Defence Readiness and Industry Minister Luke Pollard said three weeks ago that these issues had been fixed, and that the Government would not award Initial Operating Capability (IOC) to “any platform that we did not think was safe for the men and women of our forces to use.”

The latest injuries are understood to be noise- and vibration-related, with personnel vomiting and shaking uncontrollably. Mr. Pollard has ordered the temporary halt.

The Army is due to receive 589 Ajax and variant vehicles by 2030, with the fleet expected to serve for decades. The MOD said safety remains its priority and that the pause is being imposed out of “an abundance of caution” while the investigation proceeds.