MPs have called for certainty and swift decision-making on the paused Ajax armoured vehicles project to protect jobs in south Wales.
Testing of the vehicles was paused and several investigations are being conducted after around 30 soldiers became ill from noise and vibration during a training exercise last year.
The multi-million pound Ajax vehicles are made in Merthyr Tydfil by General Dynamics, which employs around 700 people.
The UK government said it was committed to the safety of service personnel and it was important to allow time for investigation teams to carry out their work.
MPs debated the future of the programme in the Commons on Wednesday.
Labour MP Gerald Jones, whose Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare constituency is home to General Dynamics’ factory, told ministers the skilled and long-term employment it provided were “vital to the ongoing regeneration of the valleys”.
In an area where the heavy industry of coalmining and steelmaking has ceased, he said, “new industry and employment opportunities are so important to creating hope and growth in our communities”.
Jones asked a government minister how long the investigations were expected to take, saying “the longer this uncertainty goes on this will have an impact on the morale of the workforce”.
Labour’s Newport West and Islwyn MP Ruth Jones said many of her constituents were employed by General Dynamics and called for the facts to be “identified urgently”.
“Any delay in the conclusion of these investigations comes at a cost,” she said.
“It means workers concerned about their future, ongoing confusion about the safety of the rigorously tested Ajax, and opportunities to export Ajax to our allies being put at risk.”
She said the Ajax programme was “an extremely welcome product of a deliberate choice by successive governments”, and that the General Dynamics facilities were “a critical part of the Welsh manufacturing landscape”.
Nia Griffith, Labour MP for Llanelli, said ministers needed to fully analyse the latest test results on noise and vibration limits as soon as possible and make decisions on next steps “without delay”.
“Time is of the essence,” she said.
She added it would be unforgiveable if the latest tests “vindicated the quality and viability of the Ajax project” only for it to be delayed “within ministerial schedules and the machinery of government”.
The armed forces minister and former Royal Marine Al Carns said the safety of service personnel was “paramount”, as was providing safe, reliable and effective equipment.
“It’s important that each of the investigation teams are given the time and space required to get to the bottom of the recent incidents, and past failures, so that we can take the most appropriate and accountable next steps,” he told MPs.
“I want to be clear that there is no pre-determined outcome. Ministers will be led by the facts and all options are absolutely on the table.”
He said of the programme “we must either back it, or indeed scrap it”.
Carns added that he recognised the importance of the programme to south Wales and that UK ministers had been in close contact with the Welsh government.
He also said ministers would provide a further update to MPs in the Commons next week.
