The British army has halted the use of its armoured vehicle after 30 soldiers fell ill due to its vibration and noise.
According to the information available on the United Kingdom (U.K.) Ministry of Defence website, Ajax is a family of tracked, all-terrain, digitally enabled, armoured fighting vehicles, with a range of weapons and sensors delivering transformational change in capability to the British Army.
The government has launched an investigation into the incident after soldiers fell ill during training to use the vehicle over the weekend. All use of Ajax for training and exercising has been paused for two weeks.
The first batch of the armoured vehicles, developed by U.S. firm General Dynamics, was delivered to the army earlier this month, nearly 8 years behind schedule.
Time Magazine reports that several soldiers exited the vehicle vomiting while others appeared unable to control their bodies, shaking violently after using the vehicle.
An MOD spokesperson stated that all the affected soldiers went through rigorous medical checkups, adding the majority of them have been cleared for duty, whereas, a few remain under medical care.
Earlier this month, the vehicles were hailed by the ministry as “world’s most advanced, medium weight armoured fighting vehicle”.
Critics have expressed concerns over the £6.3bn program as modern warfare is increasingly dominated by cheaper drones, evident from the Russia-Ukraine situation.