A £3.5 billion programme to build hundreds of mini-tanks for the army could be delayed because of glitches with a revolutionary weapons system, industry sources have said.
They also called into question the utility of the fleet of lightly armoured vehicles in a fight with a rival power such as Russia because of their vulnerability to heavy artillery. “It is fine if you are operating against incompetent enemies, but if you are up against a peer enemy this thing is useless, it’s a death trap,” one former defence official said.
The army signed a contract with General Dynamics, the US defence giant, for nearly 600 Ajax mini-tanks in 2014, with the first vehicles due to be delivered next year and the full order by 2024.