On June 14 2017, British Royal Tank Regiment Corporals Matthew Hatfield and Darren Neilson were killed after an explosion and fire on their tank at a military live-firing range in Wales. A coroner has now ruled the incident occurred due to an undetected design flaw on the armored vehicle's gun barrel.
The pair's fatal injuries were incurred during a live-firing exercise on Castlemartin Ranges, south-west Wales, designed to provide a “guest shoot” to Warrant Officer Stuart Lawson, who worked at the site. He was given the opportunity to experience being in a tank, and firing its main gun at three old tanks, nicknamed Tom, Dick and Harry.
Louise Hunt, senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, said the “main cause” was the tank's gun could be fired despite its bolt vent axial — a crucial component that blocks hot gases escaping into the crew turret — being missing.
Corporal Neilson, 31, a father-of-one from Preston, Lancashire, was the tank commander — he was thrown from the turret during the blast. Corporal Hatfield, 27, also a father from Amesbury, Wiltshire, was loading ammunition. Both were veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawson and Trooper Michael Warren were also injured — with the former suffering burns, and losing fingers and an ear — but survived.
Catastrophic Failures
A set of recommendations has been sent to the Ministry of Defense and BAE Systems, which designed and manufactured the tank, the Challenger 2. However,…
