Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department or any of its agencies commissioned any noise and/or vibration studies on Ajax Scout in the last five years.

Noise and vibration assessments are standard parts of the industry contracted development and trials activity whilst vehicles were operated by industry. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has continued to work together with General Dynamics in assessing the vehicle. Additional MOD assessments have been undertaken following more recent Army crewed acceptance trials, which identified potential issues.

The MOD commissioned testing by the Institute of Naval Medicine (INM) in May 2020. These were conducted in August 2020 and investigated both noise and vibration. In addition, the Army’s Environmental Health Team, supported by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, conducted “in-ear” assessments of military crews of AJAX platforms between 31 October and 5 November 2020.

The MOD has since commissioned independent Millbrook trials for vibration which are currently ongoing and due to report in late July 2021.