Ajax commands and controls

General Dynamics Land Systems UK (Stand S9-200) is displaying two members of its Ajax family of tracked combat vehicles, the longterm replacement for the Alvis Scorpion family of Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), which have been in service with the British Army for 40 years. Under the £4.5 billion contract, GDLS UK will deliver a total of 589 in six variants, with planned initial operating capability in 2020.

Being shown at DSEI is the baseline Ajax reconnaissance vehicle fitted with a two-person turret developed by Lockheed Martin UK under contract to GDLS. This is armed with a CTAI 40mm Case Telescoped Armament System provided as government furnished equipment, and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun (MG).

Variants are the Atlas recovery vehicle, the Athena command and control vehicle, the Argus engineer reconnaissance vehicle, and the Apollo equipment support vehicle.

Carew Wilks, vice president and general manager of GDLS UK, said: ‘‘The transition of Ajax into service with the British Army is a significant milestone for the Ajax programme. The provision of highly intuitive training assets, alongside vehicle deliveries, will allow the British Army to get to grips with this world-leading capability and enable them to use this fully digital family of vehicles effectively as part of Strike.

‘‘Through its advanced open and secure electronic architecture, Ajax will remain at Ajax commands and controls the forefront of technology and survivability.’’ First production vehicles are coming from the General Dynamics European Land Systems − Santa Barbara Sistemas (GDELS-SBS) facility in Trubia, Spain but progressive integration after the first about 100 vehicles will be undertaken at the GDLS facility in Bryn Brithdir, Wales. All hulls are coming from GDELS-SBS.

Under the current contract, production will continue until the end of 2024. Export marketing is under way and GDLS UK has already bid for the Australian Land 400 Phase 3 requirement, which is a replacement for its upgraded fleet of M113AS4 series APCs and variants. A down select to two contractors is expected in the near future.

Also being shown is the Ares armoured personnel carrier (APC) fitted with a Kongsberg Protector remote weapon station armed with a stabilised .50 M2 HB MG. By early September 2019, six production Ares APCs had been delivered to the British Army and in parallel, eight production and seven prototype vehicles are being used for trials, mainly at the Armoured Trials and Development Unit (ATDU) at Bovington and cold weather trials in Sweden.