Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel have been injured or are now off work as a result of trials of AJAX vehicles since 12 May 2022.

I have committed to keep the House informed regarding Ajax programme, most recently through my Written Ministerial Statement of 19 May 2022 (HCWS42).

The Safety Panel that approved the user validation trials on 12 May at Bovington put in place, appropriately, a very cautious safety protocol, including pre and post-trial checks on the hearing of Service personnel, a level of monitoring more rigorous than that used for the trials of any other armoured vehicle. These checks included all individuals exposed to Ajax, and, alongside them, some who were not. We detected as a result of these protocols transient subtle anomalies in some individuals in both the exposed and non-exposed groups. I can confirm the hearing of all individuals concerned has returned to their pre-existing recorded levels, however I am withholding more detail to protect the medical confidence of the small number of personnel involved. The trials were paused on 13 May.

The occurrence of the transient anomalies detected is being followed up by the Army, supported by the Surgeon General, working with external experts to understand their significance.

14 Service personnel were recorded as crew for the independent Ajax trials conducted in June 2021 by Millbrook. Between July 2021 and 12 May 2022, a Safety Notice meant that Service personnel were not used as crew for any trials, including those conducted by Millbrook.

The trials conducted on 12 May 2022 were conducted at the Armoured Trials and Development Unit Bovington by Service personnel with active support and involvement by Millbrook.