The Belgian army appears to have shot itself in the foot after spending £26 million ($33 million) on tank upgrades which have rendered the vehicles undriveable for any soldiers who are 5ft 7in or over.

The aim of the investment was to improve the safety of the military's fleet of 44 Pandur armoured vehicles, however in doing so, they have significantly reduced the size of the tanks' interior.

The Belgian army has come under fire after upgrades have left tanks undriveable for any soldiers above 5ft 7in. Credit: Belgian Defence

The blunder is particularly damaging given that Belgium is one of the tallest nations in the world, with the average man standing at 5ft 10in and the majority of soldiers no longer able to drive the vehicles.

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The problem has arisen due to the installation of a second raised floor, designed to protect against road side bombs. The installation of air conditioning for use in hot countries has also reduced the space inside.

One Belgian politician said the money had been 'thrown out of the windows' while Green MEP Wouter De Vriendt described the situation as a 'fiasco'.



In a tweet, he said: "The minister speaks about a 'delay' in the upgrade of the Pandur. Delay is a nice word for fiasco. In the internal defense documents, the conclusion is hard: the vehicles cannot be used. Let us name the problems and not hide them away."

De minister spreekt in #dekamer over een "vertraging" in de upgrade van de Pandur. Vertraging is een mooi woord voor fiasco.



In de interne documenten van Defensie is de conclusie beenhard: de voertuigen zijn onbruikbaar. Laten we de problemen benoemen en niet wegmoffelen. pic.twitter.com/TD3F0Xjo1J

- Wouter De Vriendt (@WouterDeVriendt) December 18, 2019

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The military responded to the criticism by insisting that 'in this type of vehicle, you've always had height restrictions'. The defence ministry was also quoted as saying that only £1.45 million ($1.88 million) had been spent on the upgrades so far.



Speaking to broadcaster RTBF, head of the systems division Admiral Yves Dupont, said: "It is not the old vehicle which enters at the beginning of the chain and which leaves completely finished at the end, what we have are intermediate stages, and clearly after the first stage, the vehicle is not directly usable.