Army chief calls for review of tanks after revealing his hearing loss

THE Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) has revealed he suffers hearing damage from his time in tanks as he called for a review of all armoured vehicles amid concerns they are deafening crews.

Gen Sir Nick Carter told a panel of MPS that five soldiers have been discharged from the Army with hearing damage owing to trials of the Army’s latest vehicle. A further 330 were treated as a result of the noise experienced during work to bring the Ajax reconnaissance vehicle into service.

In his last appearance before the Commons defence select committee ahead of his retirement after 45 years’ service, Gen Carter said: “It will be an interesting moment moving over to the other side of the fence on the first of December.”

Gen Carter was asked by Mark Francois MP, “As a professional military officer, do you want to go to war in a tank that makes you deaf?”

He replied: “I already have done.”

The outgoing head of the Armed Forces, who retires on Dec 1, said his hearing had been damaged from his service in the 432 and Warrior armoured personnel carriers, both as a regimental commanding officer and a brigade commander.

“I very well know that the quality of hearing protection I received was not as great as it could be,” he said.

He said as a result of the Ajax trials – currently suspended while the contractor, General Dynamics UK, attempts to resolve the hearing and vibration problems – all armoured vehicles in the British military need to be checked to make sure they are not damaging the hearing of crews.

Pressing on the “troubled” Ajax programme, Mr Francois asked the CDS to estimate how many of the 36 major civilian and military procurement programmes examined by the all-party public accounts committee were graded “green”, indicating that they were on time and budget.

Gen Carter said he expected about “half a dozen” would meet the criteria.

Mr Francois claimed that not a single programme actually qualified for green status, to which the CDS said he was not responsible for bringing new equipment into service. Mr Francois said: “If people have to go to war they have to use that kit ... you are responsible.”

The public accounts committee has repeatedly said that the system for bringing new military kit into service “is broken”, Mr Francois said. “Roger, out,” the CDS replied.

Asked about Britain’s military performance in Afghanistan, Gen Carter said he was extremely proud of what British forces achieved on the battlefield and that they were never defeated. “The plain fact is things don’t always turn out how you hoped they’d turn out,” he said.