Ajax is a controversial AFV that has been in the headlines quite often in the last few years. It has had a long history of issues and problems. The Ajax was intended to be a whole new family of armoured reconnaissance vehicles, tasked with gathering and distributing information about an area, such as terrain and/or any enemy locations. A debate has long been held whether reconnaissance should be done with stealth or strength, or even remotely with technological advances in satellite, radar, thermal imaging and drones. The Ajax is intended to use all available technology while adhering to the belief that sometimes there is no real substitute for having someone actually taking a look.

Retcon of Recon:

Before Ajax, Britain's reconnaissance vehicles were the CVR(T)¹ family, which had been in British Army service since 1971. These included:

• Scorpion - armoured reconnaissance light tank
• Striker - anti-tank guided missile variant.
• Spartan - armoured personnel carrier variant
• Samaritan - ambulance variant
• Sultan - command and control variant
• Samson - armoured recovery vehicle
• Scimitar - armoured reconnaissance light tank with newer cannon than Scorpion
• Sabre - armoured reconnaissance light tank with same cannon but different turret to Scimitar
• Stormer - variant that can carry high-velocity missiles, minelayers etc.

In the 1990s the British army hoped to replace these vehicles, but of course being very much the least important of Britain's armed forces after senior service the Royal Navy and the RAF, the budget wasn't available. Initially there was an intention to develop something with the US military, who sought to replace the M3 Bradley with what they called the Future Scout and Cavalry System, with the British army naming it the Tactical Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Equipment Requirement (TRACER) programme, hoping that working together would cut costs until the US and UK realised that they actually had incompatible requirements in mind.

Eventually the decision was made that instead of developing a whole new vehicle, an existing one could be tweaked to the British army's requirements.

Adjusting to Ajax

In March 2010 General Dynamics UK were awarded the £5.5 billion² contract for what would become the Ajax, which was intended to use their existing ASCOD 2 as the base vehicle. ASCOD (Austrian Spanish Co-Operation Development) was an armoured fighting vehicle developed for the Austrian and Spanish armies. Naturally manufacturing of the vehicles was done within the UK for the usual political reasons.

The plan was to develop six types of vehicle using one common platform, which would aid with training, spare parts etc. The Ajax family was to be the first fully-digitised platform with advanced sensors and communications systems to gather and share information in real time with other units on a digital network which will integrate with Challenger 3 tanks, attack helicopters, aerial unmanned vehicles, long-range precision fire systems.

The six types in the Ajax family are:

• Ajax - reconnaissance
• Ares - Personnel carrier
• Athena - Command and control
• Argus - Engineer
• Atlas - Recovery
• Apollo - Repair

Initially it was expected that the Ajax would be introduced from 2017 but there were delays with the Ajax programme running eight years late. The Ministry of Defence has been criticised by National Audit Office, Defence Select Committee and Public Accounts Committee. The latest announcement has been that it should finally enter service in 2025. Delays are not entirely unexpected with a new vehicle, however the introduction of Ajax was supposed to be simple and cost-effective, using an already existing, successful vehicle tweaked to meet British requirements.

Initial trials showed that the Ajax was far from an improvement; in fact when first tested the overwhelming conclusion was that the vehicle was useless. There had been a tweak here, a thread of the original vehicle pulled there and soon the whole vehicle had unravelled. The issues were that there were serious suspension faults. The tanks constantly vibrated and were excessively noisy - way over health and safety noise limits. They were unable to reverse on slightly uneven ground, the vibrations meant it was impossible to accurately fire at a target when on the move, any crew inside the tanks had to wear noise cancelling headphones and be checked for hearing loss at the end of each journey. Trials of Ajax halted in 2020 due to the report concluding that the excessive vibration and noise left crews suffering from nausea, swollen joints and tinnitus, while the vibration was also damaging the tank's electronic systems. Test crews were then limited to spending no more than 90 minutes inside the tank and to travel at no more than 20 miles per hour.

Official investigations into the problems with Britain's worst procurement disaster have described the programme as 'flawed from the outset', 'deplorable' and that the army overcomplicated the project with hundreds of constantly-changing requirements while it was in progress. But apparently these issues have been resolved now and the Ajax has been officially unveiled to the public. Members of the Household Cavalry who use Ajax have said that the capabilities long promised are actually finally there, with the latest trials in the Arctic Circle being successfully completed.

ISTAR of the Show?

Much of the details of Ajax remain classified, but it is known that it is at the heart of the British Army's ISTAR capability - Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance. It is also the first British vehicle to have the Anglo-French CTAS40 cannon introduced in 2022 that fires telescoped caseless ammunition. It has four round types - Armour-piercing for tanks, airburst for light targets such as unarmoured vehicles and infantry, point-detonating rounds for hardened targets such as bunkers, and aerial airburst rounds for anti-aircraft.

One of the photographs shows the Ajax in its intended reconnaissance mode, hiding behind the little hill with only its aerials and camera thingy showing, gathering information while unobserved.

Ajax Agility

From my own experiences I can confirm that Ajax and Ares are now vehicles that appear capable of moving at speeds over 20mph and do not seem noisier on the outside than other modern tanks. Of course Ajax's secrets are its suites of advanced digital networked intelligence-gathering infrastructure that, being held inside the vehicle, cannot be seen from the outside. The vehicle is intended to 'maximise situational awareness', not only for the crew inside the tank but also for the entire battle group. The primary sight camera suites on top move independently of the turret, with a plethora of camera and sensors all around the vehicle to identify noises and then be able to link with helicopters or tanks etc to use the appropriate weapons against the enemy.

Bluebottle

23.09.24 Front Page

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