Work is under way to fix 6,000 Army support vehicles withdrawn from service over safety concerns, a defence minister has told MPs.
Luke Pollard said the suspension of the British Army’s entire support lorry fleet for repairs to be carried out, as first reported by The Times, was an example of the “system working properly”.
“An issue was identified, a rectification was instructed and that is taking place,” he told the Commons defence committee.
He assured MPs that “we have maintained forces at a degree of readiness,” after Labour’s Derek Twigg raised concerns about what would happen if the truck fleet was needed in an emergency.
Known as the “workhorse” of the British Army, the MAN Logistic Support Vehicle is used to deliver food, fuel and other supplies to troops.
The fleet was withdrawn from service following a recent exercise named Titan Storm on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, when faults were discovered in the propshaft of some vehicles, which delivers power to the wheels.
All 6,000 vehicles, some of which have been in service for nearly 20 years, are being fitted with replacement parts after some were damaged because they were fitted incorrectly, according to BFBS Forces News.
Pollard told MPs: “It’s pretty standard fare, right across our military platforms, for there to be safety notices issued and rectification work taking place.”
He added: “With the platforms we have, the age of some of them, and the usage for them, there’s updates required on a regular basis.”
Pollard was also questioned by MPs about a separate incident on the Titan Storm exercise, which led to the suspension of the Army’s Ajax armoured fighting vehicles.
About 30 soldiers training to use the Ajax vehicles became unwell because of noise and vibration, with some seen emerging from the vehicles vomiting.
Pollard told the committee “none of them required hospitalisation” 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, that’s why we have paused operations.”
It comes weeks after Pollard claimed the much-delayed £6.3bn Ajax programme had “left its troubles behind” and was ready to be deployed with squadrons on operations.
Pollard said he had made this statement after receiving written confirmation from the chief of the general staff and the national armaments director saying Ajax was “demonstrably safe to operate”.
He said the Army had launched an investigation into what happened with the Ajax vehicles during the Titan Storm exercise, which he said would be reporting “very shortly”.
The Defence Accident Investigation Branch has also launched an investigation which would take longer to report, Pollard told MPs.
And he said he had launched a separate review into the reassurances he had been given by officials about the vehicles’ safety.
Asked if he had been misled about their operational readiness, he said: “Until I see the findings of the preliminary report into what happened, I don’t want to make a judgement on the process that led up to it.”