Ajax risk to British Army (Analysis)
The Ajax family of vehicles is designed to deliver an essential combat capability to the British Army's future brigade combat teams. (Photo: GDUK)
The leak of parts of a UK government Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) report on the British Army’s Ajax reconnaissance armoured vehicle programme has raised questions about the ability to deliver the family of platforms and what it means for the Army’s future force structure.
Some conclusions from the report released on Twitter by defence analyst Francis Tusa on 2 June indicate that the UK Infrastructure and Projects Authority has graded the Ajax project with a red rating.
This means that it believes the project to be undeliverable in its current form and needs to be re-baselined.
Because of problems with the vehicles, the report states that the project will not deliver the required number of platforms to meet planned operational deployments in 2023-24 and for Ajax to achieve full operational capability (FOC) in 2025.
Whilst this storm was brewing, Jeremy Quin MP, minister for defence procurement
Our news & analysis is now part of Defence Insight®
A Basic-level or higher Defence Insight subscription is now required to view this content.
More from Land Warfare
-
![Battle management C2 systems are driving the next phase of integrated air defence]()
Battle management C2 systems are driving the next phase of integrated air defence
Battlefield and wider air defence C2 systems integrating a range of agnostic sensors have risen in prominence, from Turkey’s Aselsan developing Steel Dome to Northrop Grumman providing its own system to Poland and the US Army.
-
![Ireland targets improved anti-drone capability before mid-year ahead of EU presidency]()
Ireland targets improved anti-drone capability before mid-year ahead of EU presidency
With Ireland's EU presidency set to commence from July this year, the ramped-up efforts to procure a counter-uncrewed aerial system and radar capability under its Military Radar Programme are on track to meet targeted roll-out dates.
-
![How and why Europe is replenishing tube artillery in the drone warfare era]()
How and why Europe is replenishing tube artillery in the drone warfare era
Modern conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war have exposed gaps in Western artillery, with European militaries increasingly looking to invest in longer-range systems with a focus on logistics and resilience.
