The British Army’s ill-fated Ajax armored vehicle program now faces the prospect of being axed as the Ministry of Defence withdraws its initial operating capability status and reviews its future.
Ajax, a tracked reconnaissance vehicle intended for the Army’s Armoured Brigade Combat and Artillery Fire Support Teams, has been in the news off and on due to reports of it causing health problems among the crew.
Initial operating capability (IOC) was declared for the platform last November, amidst assurances that any issues with the units, which resemble smallish tanks, had been ironed out. But a number of service personnel have since reported symptoms consistent with noise and vibration effects during training exercises, leading to it being put on hold last week.
This week, Defence Secretary John Healey told the Parliamentary Defence Committee: “It is clear we did not have the full facts in the lead-up to decisions about the initial operating capability.”
That IOC has now been withdrawn, and the Army is no longer in charge of this program, with responsibility passed instead to the National Armaments Director, as The Register reported.
But Healey went further, telling the committee: “I have been clear that we must back it or scrap it. The work is being done at the moment in order to put us in a position to make that decision.”
This appears to confirm that the government may be preparing to cancel Ajax if the outstanding issues with the vehicle cannot be easily addressed.
Neither option is particularly palatable, as critics have alleged that some flaws in the vehicle’s chassis – built by contractor General Dynamics – may be contributing to the ongoing problems.
But a decision to scrap the vehicles would cause a different headache, as the program is already years behind schedule and it would effectively mean starting over with a selection process to find a replacement, while the Ministry of Defence is said to be facing a budget shortfall already.
Ajax is also the name for the overarching program, which aims to fill six different roles for the Army, based on the same chassis. Ares is an armored personnel carrier, Athena is a command vehicle, Argus is the engineering version, Atlas is a recovery vehicle, and Apollo is a repair unit.
It is understood that about 170 vehicles have so far been delivered, covering all of these roles, with the largest number being the Ajax reconnaissance unit.
Alternatives to take the place of Ajax could be the CV90 from BAE Systems or the Rheinmetall Lynx, both of which are already in service with other European armies.
Another option is to simply develop a reconnaissance variant of the Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV), now entering service with the British Army. Boxer has a modular design that allows mission-specific modules to be fitted to its eight-wheeled chassis.
The Ministry was asked to confirm whether axing Ajax is being considered, but a spokesperson merely pointed us to an earlier statement from the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, who said: “We will need to decide on the platform’s future shortly, and that is being considered as part of the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.” ®
