In the UK, exercises with a new type of tank have been halted as a series of problems have come to light. This has been confirmed by the Ministry of Defense after reports in The Daily Telegraph.
A report that the newspaper got its hands on states that the light Ajax tanks must be able to drive 65 kilometers per hour. Because there are severe vibrations at high speeds, they should not go faster than 32 kilometers per hour for safety reasons.
In addition, the crew may not spend more than one and a half hours in the tank at a time and they must wear hearing protection during the journey. Even then, the crew must undergo a hearing test afterwards.
It has also come to light that the gun does not work when the tank is moving and that obstacles higher than 20 centimeters cannot be overcome when reversing.
Discontinued
Effective training is not possible because of all this, the report says. That is why, according to the Ministry of Defense, a variant of this tank is now being practiced, with “appropriate safety measures” being taken.
It is not surprising that the exercises with the new tank have been discontinued, according to the ministry. “That is a normal measure in this phase of a project,” says a spokesperson. Solutions are sought together with the manufacturer.
The order for 589 Ajax tanks from General Dynamics UK is worth more than 4 billion euros.
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