In the exhibition area at the International Armoured Vehicles conference, organised by Defence iQ in Farnborough, of the three heavies that are going to impact the effectiveness of the British Army only the Challenger 3 was missing, mass and dimensions being the main reason. The other two, the wheeled Boxer 8×8 mechanised infantry vehicle (MIV) and the tracked Ajax armoured cavalry vehicle, were visible in real, with their crews ready to answer visitors questions
On Day of IAV 1 the Ajax prime contractor, General Dynamics Land Systems UK, briefed the audience on the latest evolutions of the programme. As a remember, Ajax is a 38-42 tonnes vehicle capable to reach a maximum speed of 70 km/h, of which 589 vehicles in six different variants will be provided to the British Army at a cost of 6.3 billion £ (around 7.5 billion Euro). The programme split is well known and includes 243 Ajax turreted versions, armed with the CTAI 40 mm cannon using cased telescoped ammunition, 93 Ares specialist troop carrier, 112 Athena command and control vehicles, 38 Atlas recovery vehicles, 50 Apollo repair vehicles and 51 Argus engineer reconnaissance vehicles.
As a reconnaissance vehicle, the Ajax is at the core of the British Army new land operating concept. “The principle of the recce strike complex is the ability to beat our adversaries in the find-and-fires targeting cycle, to attrite them at range, to denude their combat power before engaging them in close combat,” a high-ranking British Army speaker stated during the IAV conference. That said, “we still need the ability to engage a peer enemy in close combat, and that’s why our equipment programme is still primarily focused on the hardware we need to fight the close battle, like Challenger 3, Boxer, Ajax, Ajax 120 mm mounted mortar and so on. We are now starting to see the first green shoots of army recapitalization appearing, we’ve received the first four prototypes of the Challenger 3 and our Ajax and Boxer are now appearing in large numbers,” he continued.
“Ajax is a truly transformational capability at the heart of the British Army and modernisation programme. The programme has turned a significant corner, and Ajax is real. It’s here. It’s being manufactured in the UK, in South Wales, and has been delivered to Field Army units. And we are preparing for the Initial Operational Capability this year,” the GDLS UK representative underlined.
As he said, the first milestone will be reached soon, as since the beginning of 2025 the Ajax programme has seen production acceleration, following a series of hurdles that were overcome; “the Ajax program did encounter challenges, most significant being the noise and vibration concerns that you will all have heard about. These drove a concerted effort and common focus for the joint teams to resolve, and they have been resolved since the implementation of design modifications to address them. Data shows that the Capability Drop 3 platforms are safe, featuring significantly lower levels of noise and vibration,” the GDLS UK speaker said.
Information was provided about the trials that were carried out in the last few years, since the vibration issues were solved. “Since that point, 167 representative battlefield missions have been successfully completed on trials, data gathered enabling implementation of design modifications through into production standards. Rapidly, more than 41,000 km have been driven on mobility trials, underpinning the growth in reliability and our confidence in the platform. Nearly 5,000 rounds of 40 mm ammunition have been fired from the NATO-qualified CTAI 40 cannon that delivers four times greater terminal effect than a 30 mm calibre weapon and achieves operational effects over 4 km. We have approved the Capability Drop 3 safety case and accepted the first of type of six variants of the Ajax platforms, and we have delivered over 70 Capability Drop 3 vehicles, including the 50 required for initial operating capability later this year,” the speaker told the audience.
GDLS UK and the British Army plan to achieve the IOC in the second half of 2025, which will mean delivering a trained and deployable squadron that can be sustained on operations for up to six months.
In the two following years some more steps will be overcome. The first one will be to deploy all Ajax capability within the Armoured Cavalry Battle Group fielded, trained and deployable. The second one will be to bring this to the upper echelon, the Recce Strike Brigade Combat Team, the final one in the 2026-27 timeframe being to bring all Ajax capability within the Armoured Brigade Combat Team. This will bring to the Full Operating Capability (FOC), which is expected to occur between October 2028 and September 2029. FOC will be declared when all available units will be trained and converted to the Ajax platform. The end-state will then be the capability to deploy the British Army Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade and two Armoured Brigade Combat Teams.
“The Ajax programme represents a transformation in how capabilities will remain evergreen, in how the platform becomes a force multiplier by constantly integrating cutting edge technology and how it is best placed to embody the Chief of the General Staff intent of doubling [the British Army] fighting power by 2027 and tripling it by the end of the decade,” GDLS UK representatives stated.
Compared to the vehicles it is replacing, the obsolete CVR(T) family, the Ajax is system of a completely different generation. “It is essentially a computer suite, a sophisticated sensor suite on tracks that delivers a cutting-edge lethal capability. And it’s not just from General Dynamics that we’ve achieved this in our Merthyr Tydfil facility in South Wales, but across the whole supply chain,” the speakers underlined, the programme including numerous other key players which activities are spread all over the United Kingdom. According to data provided, the Ajax programme supports 4,100 jobs across 230 UK-based suppliers.
While preparing to deliver the Ajax-based operational capability, GDLS UK is already looking forward. “Now that we have built up the Ajax enterprise and the industrial base, we need to sustain it so it is there and can react to the threats as they change and the pace of them to lift it up. The Ajax is extremely versatile. There is a fully scalable, open electronic architecture, common base platform that can provide many different payloads as a fully modular armour design, adaptable to the changing threat environment,” GDLS UK said. Based on the Ajax IFV chassis, a number of future variants can be developed. In 2021 GDLS UK and MBDA demonstrated the Brimstone Anti-tank Guided Weapon ‘Overwatch’ variant, but many more are being considered, mortar carrier, mobile firepower with a 120 mm gun, SHORAD missile self-propelled vehicle, logistics, bridging, and ambulance being among them. GDLS UK is aiming at expanding the British Army Ajax fleet, but also considering with interest the potential export market.
Photos courtesy Crown Copyright, GDLS UK and P. Valpolini