Work is underway to fix 6,000 Army Support Vehicles that have been removed from service due to security concerns, a defense minister told MPs.
Luke Pollard said that suspending the British Army’s entire auxiliary lorry fleet for repairs, as first reported by The Times, was an example of “the system working properly”.
“An issue was identified, improvements were directed and that is happening,” he told the Commons defense committee.
Labour’s Derek Twigg raised concerns about what would happen if the truck fleet was needed in an emergency, after which he assured MPs that “we have some degree of preparedness.”
Known as the “workhorse” of the British Army, the MAN Logistics Support Vehicle is used to deliver food, fuel and other supplies to troops.
The fleet was withdrawn from service after a recent exercise called Titan Storm in Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, when some vehicles were found to have faults in their propshafts, which provide power to the wheels.
According to BFBS Forces News, all 6,000 vehicles, some of which have been in service for almost 20 years, are being fitted with replacement parts after some of them were damaged due to incorrect fitting.
Pollard told MPs: “It is absolutely standard fare, on our military platforms, for security notices to be issued and remediation work to take place.”
He added: “Some of the platforms we have, with their age and use, require updates on a regular basis.”
Pollard was also questioned by MPs about a separate incident on Exercise Titan Storm, which led to the suspension of the Army’s Ajax armored fighting vehicles.
About 30 soldiers training to use the Ajax vehicles became ill due to the noise and vibration, with some seen vomiting from the vehicles.
Pollard told the committee that “none of them required hospitalization” and “many of them have returned to their normal duties”.
But he added, “I have always been clear that the safety of our people is our top priority, which is why we have halted operations.”
It comes just weeks after Pollard claimed the much-delayed £6.3bn Ajax program had “put its troubles behind us” and was ready to be deployed with squadrons on operations.
Pollard said he made this statement after receiving written confirmation from the Chief of the General Staff and the Director of National Armaments that the Ajax was “clearly safe to operate”.
He said the Army has launched an investigation into what happened to the Ajax vehicles during Exercise Titan Storm, which he said would be reported “very soon.”
Pollard told MPs that the Defense Accident Investigation Branch has also launched an investigation which will take longer to report.
And he said he had launched a separate review of assurances given by officials about the safety of the vehicles.
Asked whether he had been misled about their operational readiness, he said: “Until I see the findings of the preliminary report on what happened, I don’t want to pass any judgment on the process that led to it.”
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