British Military Current Events

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Utrinque Paratus...

British paratrooper killed in Ukraine named​

A member of the UK armed forces who died in Ukraine has been named as Lance Corporal George Hooley of the Parachute Regiment.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the 28-year-old was killed in a "tragic accident" while observing Ukrainian forces test "a new defensive capability, away from the front lines".

Paying tribute to the paratrooper in the Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "His life was full of courage and determination.

"He served our country with honour and distinction around the world in the cause of freedom and democracy, including as part of the small number of British personnel in Ukraine."

Sir Keir said he had placed L/Cpl Hooley's name on record in the Commons "to express our gratitude and respect, and to affirm that his service will never be forgotten".

L/Cpl Hooley had an "incredibly bright" future, his Commanding Officer said in a tribute on Wednesday.

"I have no doubt that he would have continued to perform at the very front of his peer group over the coming years," the commanding officer said, adding that "all members of the Parachute Regiment mourn his loss".

Lance Corporal George Hooley named as British paratrooper killed in Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer pays tribute to Lance Corporal George Hooley, who the Ministry of Defence says died in a "tragic accident" away from the front lines.

www.bbc.com

 

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Let the backstabbing commence...

Minister 'disgusted' after soldiers injured in Ajax exercise​

Defence minister Luke Pollard has said he was "disgusted" when he heard that soldiers were injured while using Ajax armoured vehicles, which he had previously been assured were safe.

Last month, the Army paused its use of the vehicles after 30 soldiers became ill from noise and vibration during a military exercise.

The £6.3bn Ajax project had been due to deliver 589 armoured vehicles with the first entering service in 2017 however, the programme has been beset by problems and repeatedly delayed.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Pollard said three investigations were under way and promised to take "whatever decisions are required to end the saga one way or another".
He later added that the Ajax vehicle had completed "42,000 km of testing without such injuries" and that "not all the vehicles on that exercise caused injuries".

Shadow Conservative defence secretary James Cartlidge said the incidents with noise and vibration "sound strikingly similar to the problems that I was assured, as minister for defence procurement, had been resolved".

"I imagine the minister is as furious as I am at having been repeatedly given what now turn out to be false assurances by those responsible for the Ajax programme," he said, adding: "Surely he is left with a binary choice - fix it or fail it."

Cartlidge also raised "a disgraceful incident" where an employee of General Dynamics, the company making Ajax, had "belittled the injured soldiers" in social media posts according to reports.

Defence minister 'disgusted' after soldiers injured in Ajax exercise

Luke Pollard says three investigations are under way after further problems emerged with the beleaguered armoured vehicle programme.

www.bbc.com

 

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More Ajax fodder from the 'Fill Your Boots UK' site:


Detailed Employee Account: Systemic Issues within the General Dynamics Ajax Programme

As a long-serving General Dynamics employee working directly on the Ajax vehicle programme, I feel compelled to document the profound systemic and cultural failures I have witnessed. My surprise is not that the programme has encountered technical challenges, but that the sheer scale and nature of the issues—many stemming from managerial pressure and a culture of corner-cutting—have not been brought to light earlier in a meaningful way.

The problems extend far beyond design flaws. On the shop floor, we operate under intense pressure from management to meet deadlines, often at the expense of procedure and safety. The prevailing directive from certain managers is to "just make it fit," with instructions to "do what you got to do—grind it, cut it, hammer it in, or boot it." This ethos of force-fitting components directly contradicts engineering standards and creates inherent vulnerabilities in the vehicle's integrity.

I have observed managers and quality personnel witnessing these practices without intervention, effectively endorsing them. Specific, recurring failures include:

· Critical Safety Omissions: Armour bolts left unfitted behind the VIP bin, compromising ballistic protection.

· Persistent Functional Failures: The driver's hatch mechanism continues to fail despite being a known, long-standing issue.

· Chronic Leaks: Fuel and hydraulic leaks are commonplace, indicating persistent sealing or subsystem integration problems.

· Falsified Safety Records: Most alarmingly, I have seen safety notices stamped off as completed. Upon physical verification, the required work had not been done. A grave example is within the Ajax battery compartment, a high-risk area that remains live even after isolation. Signing off on unperformed work here is not just negligent; it is dangerously irresponsible.

The logistical and support side of the programme is equally broken. We face severe parts shortages. To keep the current production line moving, we have been systematically cannibalising vehicles from a storage fleet of approximately 50 trucks in Llanelli. These vehicles haven't been started in years, their batteries are long dead, and we strip them for components because new parts are simply unavailable. This is not sustainable manufacturing; it is a desperate and inefficient salvage operation that underscores a profound failure in supply chain management.

Perhaps most disheartening is the cultural corrosion. A specific example that shocked me was witnessing a former 2ic (second-in-command) at the Merthyr site rapidly abandon his principles upon accepting a managerial position within General Dynamics. This individual, once an advocate for the workforce and procedure, swiftly adopted the very "get it done at any cost" mentality he previously questioned. This rapid shift in morals highlights how the managerial culture actively assimilates and silences potential internal critics, perpetuating the cycle of failure.

In summary, the issues with Ajax are not merely technical or confined to the drawing board. They are the product of a toxic operational culture that prioritises schedule over safety, encourages wilful blindness among management, and penalises adherence to standards. The shop floor is executing under duress, the logistical foundation is non-existent, and the safety of the end-user is being compromised by signed paperwork for work that remains undone. This programme requires more than a redesign; it needs a complete cultural overhaul and a genuine commitment to transparency and accountability from the highest levels down.