Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to statement HCWS332 of 20 October on Armoured Cavalry Programme: Ajax Update, how many trial stages the Ajax programme must complete before reaching Initial Operating Capability.

The User Validation Trials are additional bespoke trials that aim to help establish the effectiveness of the proposed Ajax modifications to address the noise and vibration problems and thereby deliver a safe system of work under which to conduct Reliability Growth Trials. User Validation Trials consist of a combination of dynamic testing and detailed analysis of the results. The duration will be dependent on the results and the level of analysis required. I will, however, continue to ensure that the House is kept updated.